(Vancouver) British Columbia’s human rights commissioner is calling on universities and colleges to protect the rights of students and staff participating in “peaceful encampments,” saying she is concerned that people who “express themselves in solidarity with Gaza” be penalized.
Kasari Govender said in a statement that university communities have the right to “peaceful and lawful assembly and freedom of expression.”
Mme Govender wrote that there is no place in British Columbia for anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia or their public incitement and, as long as these boundaries are not violated, universities and colleges should protect the rights of protesters.
Pro-Palestinian protest camps were set up on several British Columbia campuses last week, including at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.
Protest organizers said they wanted universities to support the Palestinian cause by divesting from Israel-linked businesses, joining the “global academic boycott” of Israeli schools and publicly condemning Israeli actions in Gaza.
Mme Govender said how policymakers handle the student protests will be a test of the “strength of our democracy.”