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“IT’S JUST A STEP IN THE OVERALL GOAL”

MAY 15 —  at 2 p.m., INSAF, Palestinian Student Association (PSA), and the University of Ottawa Student Union (UOSU) members met with the U of O’s chief investment officer, Francois Dionne, as part of negotiations to push the university to divest from Israeli-linked businesses. 

In the meeting, the university agreed to give a timeline for disclosure of its investments by Friday, May 17 and also agreed to discuss adopting the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association’s definition of anti-Palestinian racism. In a press conference following the meeting, INSAF president Sumayya Kheireddine also noted the university offered a follow-up meeting tomorrow to speak more on the protesters’ main demand: divestment from “any and all corporations involved in the surveillance, occupation, and murder of Palestinians both in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The press conference started with an address from PSA vice-president Layan Ibrahim about Nakba Day, the anniversary of when Palestinians were expelled en masse from their homes and land by Israelis in 1948. 

“The term Nakba isn’t only used to describe a historical event, as the Nakba never ended,” she explained. “The genocide must be understood as the latest stage of an ongoing process of slow destruction and displacement that Palestinians have been subjected to since 1948…this is why Nakba Day isn’t only a day of mourning for a past injustice.”

“Just within the [U of O’s] Palestinian community, we have had generations of loss…A lot of our members’ houses are destroyed. We as a student body [at the U of O] have extremely suffered… We’re out of time. Each day that goes by, we’re going through another loss.”

The next speaker, a representative from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Carleton, Bessan Jasser, highlighted the global nature of the solidarity movements and the role of universities. 

“The encampments that we see occurring all around the globe show us just how complicit so many universities are in this genocide…we want our university to divest from the ongoing genocide,” Jasser said. “We must remember there is not a single university left in Gaza right now…all 13 universities have been targeted and destroyed by the Israeli military.”

Susanne Spronk, the past president of the U of O Association of Professors (APUO), emphasized the importance of academic and expressive freedoms. “We state in the strongest possible terms the academic or expressive freedoms of all members of our campus community must be upheld — especially during times of conflict that deeply affect U of O students and workers,” she said. 

“We call upon the interim provost and vice-president academic affairs — and the chief investment officer to accept the encampment organizers’ call for meetings and we urge the administration to engage in good faith, transparent, and meaningful dialogue.”

INSAF president Sumayya Kheireddine posed a question to the attendees: “Should the murder of over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza not be considered a legitimate cause for immediate divestment?” She also emphasized the importance of continued pressure and solidarity. “We will remain firmly rooted here demanding that the [U of O] immediately prioritize human life and support their students in standing on the right side of history…our power is in numbers, our power is together until liberation and return.”

Nir Hagigi, president of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Carleton, echoed INSAF’s demands. “After 8 months of enduring such horrors, why is it unreasonable for us to insist…that they immediately disassociate themselves from the perpetrators of this genocide?”

When asked if other universities in Canada have divested, Kheireddine mentioned, “I know that Thompson Rivers in Canada has committed to disclosure within 30 days and such I will say that this is the University of Ottawa’s [chance] to join others around the globe and you know choosing the right thing and others have divested so far so — I’m a business student — so you have the chance to be an early adopter and really set the precedent for everyone else.” 

She thanked attendees, asked them to keep Palestine in their prayers, and support the students in any way they can. The organizer contingent then led chants of “disclose, divest, we will not stop we will not rest.” The press conference concluded on this note.

At 6:30 p.m., speakers shared their Nakba stories while children chalked the Palestinian flag onto the sidewalk in front of the Tabaret stairs. Speakers included Sarah Zeitoun, Ayah, Noor Akel, and Nabil Hamadeh. Zeitoun encapsulated the sentiment of the day, stating, “We all carry the pain of the Nakba and the anger at this Zionist regime’s brutal siege, at the genocide on Gaza.”

The organizers will meet once again with Dionne tomorrow.

With notes from Andrew Wilimek.