Organized by Palestine Strike Action UBC, protesters in solidarity with Palestine staged a demonstration on November 27 to demand the cancellation of a course run by UBC’s Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (AMNE).
The course in question, AMNE 395/595 — which is the course code for all archeological field schools — is a class UBC offers through Go Global to train students in the principles and methods of field archaeology as practiced in the Mediterranean and Near East.
In a statement shared online ahead of the protest, the UBC Social Justice Centre and UBC Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, among other groups, said the course effectively “legitimizes Zionist occupation, apartheid, as well as the ongoing, unjust, and illegal theft of Palestinian land.”
On November 14, a United Nations special committee released a report that found Israel’s methods of warfare in Gaza are consistent with genocide, including the use of starvation in war. On November 21, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for war crimes alleged by the ICC Prosecutor.
11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m.
At 11 a.m., a group of approximately two dozen gathered outside the UBC Bookstore to begin what would become a seven-hour protest. Uniformed and plain-clothed Campus Security and four RCMP officers observed from a distance.
The protesters marched down Main Mall and past Koerner’s Library, where UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon’s office is located, all the while chanting “free, free Palestine.”
The group proceeded to the Buchanan complex where they called on Michael Griffin, head of the AMNE department, to permanently cancel AMNE 395/595.
A few protesters then entered Buchanan B, and upon exit claimed to have delivered a letter to Griffin’s office outlining their demands. When asked, Griffin directed The Ubyssey to speak to UBC media relations. Neither Griffin nor the university explicitly confirmed if the letter was received by the department.
“Dear Michael Griffin,” protesters called from outside, “as the department head for AMNE, you have the authority to reject any and all Go Global seminar applications, at your discretion. The AMNE trip to Israel is a clear violation of your own department’s principles and commitments.”
Protesters also demanded the AMNE department publicly announce its commitment to support Palestinian liberation.
11:45 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.
At 11:45 a.m., protesters entered and began to occupy the Go Global office in UBC’s Life Building where they demanded to speak with Go Global leadership. The protesters also named a specific executive they would not speak to: UBC’s VP Students Ainsley Carey.
“We will not talk to Ainsley Carry. We will not talk to any listeners. We will only talk to people who can commit to action,” one protester said.
In May, pro-Palestinian human rights protesters occupied Koerner Library and demanded that President Bacon issue a statement publicly condemning what organizers called a genocide in Gaza. Bacon wasn’t available, and after hours of negotiation between protesters and Campus Security, Carry offered to hold a discussion but expressed his “preference” that demonstrators vacate the building. Protesters were later escorted by Campus Security out of Koerner Library and no arrests were made.
In response to protesters’ demands, Go Global Assistant Director Sarah Cameron said she was not in a position to make the decisions the protesters wanted. She also said AMNE 395/595 had already been cancelled for the year out of concerns for student safety and that UBC’s Senate approves which course programs will or won’t run.
A protester later said into a microphone, “I wonder if Go Global has considered just boycotting the Senate.”
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Director of University Affairs Matthew Ramsey said that acquiescing to this demand would contravene UBC’s “established governance model.”
Section 37 of the University Act, the provincial statute that governs most public universities in BC, provides that the Senate has the power “to consider, approve and recommend to the board the revision of courses of study, instruction and education in all faculties and departments of the university.”
When the protesters first arrived around noon, Cameron said that Go Global Executive Director Cheryl Dumaresq was out of the office, but protesters could wait to speak with her when she returned later that day.
“You’re welcome to wait to chat with her if that’s the right path forward,” said Cameron.
When protesters asked when they could expect Dumaresq to arrive, Cameron said she didn’t have an exact time. The protesters agreed to wait for Dumaresq, saying they would be “getting this course cancelled one way or another,” and occupied themselves with various tasks (from chatting to doing homework) in the meantime.
3:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.
Around 3 p.m., Director of Campus Security Sam Stephens arrived and said, despite what Cameron had told the protesters nearly three hours prior, “today, there’s not going to be someone to speak to.”
One protester asked if Stephens would pass along a message telling Go Global to send someone to speak with them as they would not be leaving until then.
“There’s not going to be someone talking today,” Stephens reiterated, and told the group they were welcome to stay until the Go Global office closed at its usual closing time of 4 p.m.
“We’ve been here peacefully for hours doing our homework, so send someone to come talk to us. That’s what we’ve been waiting for,” one protester said. When they received no response, the protesters began chanting, “We’re not leaving, we’re not leaving.”
After the chants, another protester addressed the office and clarified the group’s intent to stay beyond its closing time if necessary.
“We’re not leaving the office before we get a commitment from Go Global to cancel the partnerships and stop sending students to occupied Palestine.”
At 4 p.m., Stephens, flanked by several RCMP officers, told the protesters that the Go Global office had closed and that they needed to leave.
The protesters disregarded this request and reiterated chants of “We’re not leaving” and “The students, united, will never be defeated.”
At 4:20 p.m., Constable Strikwerda spoke to protesters: “You are now effectively trespassers. You must leave,” he said.
Amid the shouting from the crowd that ensued, a protester asked, “What about what we’re asking for,” and Strikwerda said, “That has nothing to do with us.” The same protester asked, “Then why the fuck are you here?”
Strikwerda told protesters “If you don’t leave, you’re going to force us to arrest you and we don’t want to do that.”
Police continued to command protesters to leave, but were drowned out by chants of “All the Zionists are racist.”
Over the next hour, police silently watched from the other side of the office space, ignoring various taunts from the protesters. At one point, the protesters also began chanting “Get Cheryl [Dumaresq] on the phone.”
“We’re reasonable people. We’ve been here all day with one demand. Just one, and it’s to talk to someone. That’s it. That’s all we’ve been asking, all day,” one protester said to a line of unresponsive officers.
At 5:40 p.m., protesters and police met at the line of papers on the floor that the police had set up and told the protesters not to cross. Officers from Richmond RCMP’s “gang enforcement” unit were also now present.
UBC RCMP detachment commander Chuck Lan said the university was aware of the protesters’ desire to speak with someone.
“You’ve been here all afternoon, so they know you’re here,” he said. When one protester interjected — “[so] they just don’t care we’re here,” Lan said he couldn’t speak for UBC.
Another officer then told protesters because they hadn’t left, they were now “committing the offence of mischief.”
Section 430 of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to obstruct, interrupt or interfere “with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property,” or to prevent any person from doing so.
At 5:53 p.m., police formed a line and began walking forward — protesters walked backwards and filed out through the office's main door as police followed closely.
By 6 p.m. the RCMP had forced protesters out of the Life Building despite the fact that only the Go Global office was closed. The Life Building remained open with other students inside. Along with protesters, The Ubyssey was also forced out.
In recent years, Canadian journalists have had to confront a larger trend of police interfering with news media covering protests, including media exclusion practices that have been successfully challenged by journalists before the BC Supreme Court.
As of publication, the AMNE 395/595 course has not been permanently cancelled.
When asked for comment on the situation and the protesters’ demands, Ramsey told The Ubyssey that “Occupying a UBC office space is not an appropriate way to set up a meeting with UBC executive members.”
“We have no comment on their demands.”
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