The pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Ottawa has ended after 11 weeks, prompting discussions of what’s next as student groups continue to fight for their demands.
By the morning of July 10, the encampment consisted solely of empty tents, tarps and scattered debris, with the word “divest” spray-painted in red on the pillars of Tabaret Hall.
“The encampment itself was not giving us the leverage we needed for negotiations,” said Bessan Amer, vice-president of research for Students for Justice in Palestine Carleton. “Strategically, it didn’t make sense for us to continue on.”
Discussions of an encampment at Carleton remain unclear, Amer said, but the focus going forward is on other forms of protest to meet demands.
Amer did not mention any specific next steps or new forms of protest.
“Hopefully uOttawa ending an encampment puts pressure on Carleton, which is what we want to do,” she said.
Carleton University did not respond to the Charlatan’s multiple requests for a statement regarding the uOttawa encampment’s closure.
Early July 10, a video accompanied by a collective statement from INSAF uOttawa, Palestinian Youth Movement and the Palestinian Students Association at the University of Ottawa was released to Instagram.
“We the students, began this Occupy Tabaret encampment on Tabaret lawn over two months ago because we refuse to allow the University of Ottawa to continue being complicit in the genocide in Gaza and the continued occupation of Palestine,” the statement read.
“This encampment is only one of many tactics to achieve our demands,” the statement continued. “You have not and you will not break our spirits. And as we have said from day 1, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
INSAF’s demands continue to be the full disclosure of all investments made by uOttawa, and the complete divestment from corporations tied to Israeli settlement on occupied Palestinian territory.
The Carleton 4 Palestine Coalition is pushing for the Carleton administration to address a similar set of demands.
In a July 10 statement, uOttawa president Jaques Frémont said demonstrators left the site in a “deplorable state.”
“We condemn the acts of vandalism committed by the demonstrators before leaving the site, which add to the already considerable damage around Tabaret since the encampment was set up and continue to generate huge costs for the University,” Frémont said in the statement.
Within the last week, multiple encampments have been dismantled across several Canadian universities, including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and Western University.
Featured image provided by Bessan Amer.
