Following community pressure, in early July, the University of Waterloo (UW) in Waterloo, Ontario, dropped all legal charges against a group of students and concerned community members who were calling on the university to divest of any company that supports Israel as the war against Gaza continues. Occupy UW is part of a significant movement of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at campuses across Canada and the United States.
Occupy UW set up an encampment on the campus on May 13, and disrupted a board of governors meeting on June 18. The Mennonite activist group Mennonite Action which developed a toolkit to support university and college student demands for peace in Gaza and divestment from Israel-linked funds, rallied in support of Occupy UW. One of their members was among those named in the $1.5 million civil suit launched by the University of Waterloo on June 21, as was a student who spoke to a Mennonite Action group during a hymn sing.
The dropping of charges came after phone and email campaigns pressuring the university. On July 9, the students ended their nearly two-month-long encampment that echoed the call of Mennonite Church Canada “to avoid investing in or supporting companies that do business with Israeli settlements and the Israel Defense Forces, and companies that are profiting from the occupation of the Palestinian territories.”
On July 18, the Mennonite Action-coordinated “All God’s Children March for a Ceasefire” embarked on an 11-day, 135-mile march from Harrisonburg, VA to Washington, DC. Marchers include members of the Shenandoah Valley Muslim Coalition, local residents of Harrisonburg, VA, other interfaith allies including Jewish supporters, and other Christians from across Canada and the US.
Photo: Gor Davtyan/Unsplash
Comments
Mennonite Action appears to be very selective in its targeting of the injustice of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Surely the students of the University of Waterloo are aware that the University of Waterloo campus comprises of 1000 acres of Grand River Haldimand Tract Treaty of 1784, allotting the Six Nations peoples 6 miles of land on either side of the Grand River.
Surely Mennonite Action and Waterloo University students protesting the injustices of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, would be the first to occupy Mennonite church, university, and civic centres to protest Mennonite occupation of Six Nations lands.
The University of Waterloo acknowledges their land occupation, stating that they reside/occupy Six Nations lands. It would seem to be a "slam dunk" that Waterloo University students and Mennonite Action would not pack up their tents until every last vestige of Mennonite occupation of Six Nations lands would be eliminated.
Justice is so much easier protested from a distance. Injustice is so easy to ignore when we are the perpetrators and occupiers. So we pat ourselves on the back for taking "Mennonite Action," all the while living "Mennonite Inaction."
Did Canadian Mennonite ask University of Waterloo representatives whether they dropped their lawsuit because of "community pressure," as is stated in the article?
The July 6 CBC report suggests that what actually happened is that UW agreed to withdraw the lawsuit if the protesters decamped. In fact, it appears the protesters own published explanation was that "The University has agreed to withdraw its claim and injunction proceeding once the encampment is vacated." That sounds more like a political and legal compromise than a one-sided moral victory (which is not a bad thing, these days).
For the July 19 article “Public and protests pressure decision-makers in the war against Gaza,” we consulted with various CBC reports about the encampment lawsuit as well as Menno Action’s July 12 email report, citing the 1600+ letters sent to the university. It is valid to question any direct causal link implied between public pressure and action. The dismantling of the encampment certainly was the major factor in the withdrawal of legal action.
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