Around 50 protestors gathered outside of Richardson Hall, urging Queen’s University to “immediately cut ties with all corporations, companies, and institutions which profit from human rights violations in Palestine,” Queen’s University Apartheid Divest Coalition (QUAD) and Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) said in a joint Instagram post. They’re also demanding the University boycott Israeli academic institutions.
Beginning at around 8:00 a.m., pro-Palestine students and Kingston community members set up posters around Richardson Hall that read “Queen’s divest from death,” and placed red handprints on the side of the building.
READ MORE: ‘Divest from death’: Understanding Queen’s investment in the Israel-Gaza war
In a symbolic gesture, protestors renamed Richardson Hall “Reem Hall” in honour of a three-year-old girl killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike. Protestors, many with keffiyehs draped around their necks, proceeded to enter Mackintosh Corry Hall, hanging Palestinian flags from open windows.
The student run advocacy group, SPHR, announced at 7:30 p.m. on their Instagram account the day-long protest would turn into an overnight encampment. Equipped with food and supplies, protestors began setting up six tents in the courtyard outside Richardson Hall.
The encampment comes on the day of the Board of Trustees meeting which was scheduled to take place at 7:00 p.m. The Journal was notified in an email from the University Secretariat at 11:23 a.m. guests would only be able to attend via Zoom.
At 5:35 p.m., the meeting was moved to 5:50 p.m. due to “circumstances beyond [the University’s] control.”
Following the meeting, as senior administrators such as Provost Matthew Evans exited Richardson Hall, protestors yelled “shame” at the trustees. Pushing and shoving ensued at the door, resulting in a person falling to the ground, as captured in a video by The Journal.
Pro-Palestine protestors demand Queen's University divest from Israeli companies and yell 'shame' at senior administrators as they exit Richardson Hall following the Board of Trustees Meeting. pic.twitter.com/4TwCx5FOYb
— Queen's Journal News (@QJnews) May 11, 2024
At 7:46 p.m., two unmarked and one marked police car arrived but departed shortly after.
Jake Morrow, president of PSAC 901, stood in solidarity with the people of Gaza at the encampment. Morrow told The Journal he’s ashamed of Queen’s University.
“As a Jew, it’s shameful to be at this institution that is investing our tuition dollars in genocide,” Morrow said in an interview with The Journal.
Members of Independent Jewish Voices Kingston were also in attendance, lighting candles for Shabbat later in the evening.
Protestors at Queen’s have joined pro-Palestine students across Canada setting up encampments on their campuses and asking their universities to divest from Israeli companies.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Corrections
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated QUAD and SPHR’s divestment demands.
The Journal regrets the error
Tags
Divestments, Israel, Palestine, Protest, University Administration
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