UBC president addresses Gaza encampment demands | 24CA News
The president of the University of British Columbia says its endowment fund doesn’t straight personal any shares which can be the goal of divestment calls for by pro-Palestinian protesters who’ve arrange an encampment on the Vancouver campus.
Benoit-Antoine Bacon says the focused corporations are as an alternative a part of “pooled funds and managed by external investment managers,” making up 0.28 per cent of the endowment fund UBC says is value about $2.8 billion.
He says in a message posted on-line that the college would welcome a “respectful and robust discussion” with its college students concerning the investments.
Bacon says the encampment that started at UBC’s MacInnes Field on April 29 now entails about 100 folks and 75 tents.
He says UBC values peaceable protest however anybody expressing views concerning the “violence unfolding in Israel and Palestine” must be “exceptionally careful” how they convey their ideas.
The UBC protests are a part of a motion that has roiled tutorial campuses within the United States and Canada, with some, together with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, calling for the encampments to finish.
Protesters say they need UBC to divest from Israeli corporations they are saying are complicit within the “oppression and genocide” of Palestinians. They additionally need an educational boycott of Israeli universities and different establishments.
Bacon says UBC is “actively monitoring the situation” at MacInnes Field and “prioritizing the safety of all our community members and visitors.”
“It is absolutely essential that the university remains a place of reasoned debate where conflicting views can peacefully coexist. Our academic and social mission depends on it,” he says.
Bacon provides that the college’s expectations of the protesters have been “made clear.”
“I want to stress again that protest actions must be conducted with respect for others and within the boundaries of UBC policy and the law, and any action that contravenes this will be taken very seriously,” he mentioned.
The message tells workers managers they need to print it out and show it in a piece frequent space.
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