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Encampment organizers, community allies hold press conference following university threats

Student protesters and community organizers from the University of Ottawa encampment held a press conference on June 27th, calling attention to the slow progress of negotiations and threats of a trespass notice from the university administration.

A press release shared with the Fulcrum said that the purpose of the press conference was to “raise the alarm after back channel communication from the university administration [said] they are thinking of preparing to serve trespassing notices to student protesters and bring[ing] in police to dismantle the encampment.”

The press conference comes as the encampment nears two full months of occupation on Tabaret Lawn, one of the longest remaining student encampments at Canadian universities. 

“Our encampment began as a response to the University of Ottawa’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine,” said INSAF president, Sumayya Kheireddeine. 

Although encampment organizers submitted a re-written proposal on June 17, they have not heard a response back from the university since. On June 25, associate vice-president, student affairs Eric Bercier responded to the organizers’ follow-up, stating, “We [the administration] do not believe there is any point in discussing further your same demands that you have maintained.”

“Yesterday [June 26], the Ottawa Police Liaison team was seen at the encampment speaking with members of the [U of O] security team,” observed Kheireddeine. “It’s shameful that the university would rather resort to intimidation and police intervention than engage with us in good faith and meet our demands.”

Speaking to the Ottawa Citizen, U of O spokesperson Jesse Robichaud said that the university was “not confirming any speculation” about the allegations. Robichaud added “[t]he University remains intent on working toward a peaceful resolution to the situation even though the discussions have not yet achieved that objective.”

Also present at the press conference were representatives from different community groups that stood in solidarity with Palestine and the U of O encampment. This consisted of Hassan Husseini of Labour 4 Palestine; Dr. Yipeng Ge, a former medical resident who was suspended from the U of O and of Health Workers Alliance for Palestine; Justin Piché, full criminology professor at the U of O and of Faculty for Palestine; and Sarah Abdul-Karim from the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Each speaker discussed their solidarity with the student encampment and their disappointment in the University of Ottawa’s lack of commitment to negotiating with organizers.

Dr. Ge defined anti-Palestinian racism as “a distinct form of racism that seeks to silence, exclude, erase, stereotype and dehumanize Palestinians and their allies.”

“It is a form of racism that disregards the Palestinian identity and rationalizes the violence inflicted upon Palestinians in societal, institutional and political settings.”

“For [the U of O] to call in the police to dismantle this encampment and to not engage in negotiations with the students in good faith is an attack on democratic and academic rights to free speech and protest, and is rooted in anti-Palestinian racism.”

Abdul-Karim discussed the exhaustion of witnessing the genocide for nine months, and that several speakers stayed up late due to the university’s threats. “A lot of us here were up until 3 a. m., 4 a.m. [on June 26] because of the way that the U of O administration has been threatening us, in order to stay vigilant.”

The press conference held a brief question period before chanting outside of Tabaret Hall.