Students protested MUN’s investment in companies tied to Israel’s war on Gaza this past Friday in what organizers called a ‘die-in.’ Demonstrators laid on the floor of the University Centre food court and held pictures of children killed by Israeli forces.
Sadie Mees, an organizer with MUN Students for Palestine, said the protest aimed to “remind people that there is no back to school in Gaza.”
“There are no universities left. There are hundreds of thousands of students who are displaced. And our university has a role in that, and chose to keep their investments involved in the ongoing scholasticide in Palestine.”
Divestment campaign continues despite setbacks
MUN Students for Palestine’s campaign for divestment began on May 10th with a similar ‘die-in’ protest on the steps of the UC. On May 21st, students erected an encampment called ‘Yazan’s Yard,’ named after a ten-year-old Palestinian boy with cerebral palsy who died of malnutrition and pneumonia during Israel’s invasion.
Following the encampment, student protesters began occupying the Arts and Administration building. The occupation was shut down by the university. On July 5th, police arrested three student protesters and charged them with petty trespassing. The charges have yet to be sworn into Provincial Court.
On the same night, the student encampment, Yazan’s Yard, was dismantled by campus enforcement.
Following the dismantling of the occupation and encampment, the Board of Regents met to decide on the issue of divestment.
In a statement published in the Gazette, the Board of Regents said that “the targeted attacks on educational institutions in Gaza represent an assault on the very essence of education and academic freedom. We realize the impacts this has not just in that region but across communities and the broader academic landscape.”
In the same statement, the Board announced it had decided not to divest, citing its “legal responsibility as a fiduciary for the pension plan and for university investments.”
MUNFA members are scheduled to meet this Friday to decide whether the faculty union will support divestment.
Despite some setbacks, organizers have since said they will continue to protest until the MUN administration and the Board of Regents change their tune on divestment.
In a speech at last week’s food court die-in, MUNSU’s Nicolas Keough said that students have an “unwavering commitment to justice, dignity, and human rights for Palestinians.”
“We now demand our administration to divest from the death of Palestinians and complicity in Israel’s genocide.”
Spokesperson Chad Pelley said that MUN has no comment on the protest.