British Columbia’s human rights commissioner is looking on universities and faculties to guard the rights of scholars and employees collaborating in “peaceful encampments,” saying she’s nervous about individuals who “speak up in solidarity with Gaza” being penalized.
Kasari Govender stated in an announcement Monday that campus communities have a proper to “peaceful and lawful assembly and free expression.”
She stated there’s no place in B.C. for antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia or public incitement and, so long as these limits aren’t breached, universities and faculties ought to shield the rights of protesters.
“How decision-makers react to student protests now will mark the strength of our democracy and our human rights protections long into the future,” she stated.
Pro-Palestinian protest camps sprang up at a number of campuses throughout Canada final week, together with on the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria. Neither college instantly offered responses to Govender’s assertion.
Some protest organizers have stated they need universities to assist the Palestinian trigger by divesting from firms linked to Israel, becoming a member of a “global academic boycott” of Israeli faculties and publicly condemning Israeli actions in Gaza.
Pressure has been constructing on protesters to finish their encampments elsewhere in Canada.
Montreal’s McGill University stated late Monday that it was looking for a “timely and peaceful” finish to the protest there.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford informed reporters Monday that he’s “not in favour” of the encampments in his province, saying “they need to move.”
