We, the Alumni of the University of Alberta and MacEwan University, stand in solidarity with the People's University for Palestine Encampment, echoing their call for justice and accountability.
Over the last seven months, Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza has violated every principle of international law. Since October 7th, Israel has cut off water, gas, electricity, and medical supplies; targeted journalists, medical personnel, aid workers, religious sites, hospitals, schools, every university in Gaza, and even designated “safe” evacuation routes, and forcibly starved and displaced almost 2 million Palestinians. Over more than 200 days of genocide, Israel has mercilessly killed over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza including over 14,500 children, more than 356 healthcare workers, more than 200 aid workers, more than 137 journalists, and countless students and academics. This cyclical violence on Palestinians has been socially normalized and politically facilitated. Still, what we are witnessing now as Israel targets Rafah where over 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, has reached levels of abhorrent brutality and unconscionable cruelty that were once unthinkable.
Meanwhile, the leadership at the University of Alberta and MacEwan University have not only remained silent in the face of this genocide, but have played an active role in silencing pro-Palestinian voices on both campuses.
Thus, inspired by the courage of the students who have launched the People’s University for Palestine Encampment, we, the undersigned alumni, condemn the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people and are committed to holding our alma maters accountable for their financial and institutional investments that help sustain the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine. We further reject the premise that encampment participants are impeding “the university’s core business of teaching and learning” and condemn violent escalations, like the examples we’ve seen from the University of Calgary, to evict, repress, or involve law enforcement to impede free speech and the right to protest.
We pledge to support students who are bravely challenging institutional complicity in colonial violence, and demand that the University of Alberta and MacEwan University:
Disclose all institutional and financial investments that contribute to the occupation and thus the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Divest from these companies and investments.
Defend the right to protest by granting amnesty to all participants of the encampment.
Declare condemnation of the ongoing genocide and urge the Canadian government to end all military contracts with Israel.
We recognize the historical significance of the students’ actions on the land of Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ, and we acknowledge the importance of previous encampment actions in advocating for collective liberation and challenging colonial systems.
As we affirm our commitment to justice and our unyielding support for the students foregoing daily comforts to resist a brutal genocide, we implore our alma maters to join us in standing on the right side of history.
