UCalgary Palestine encampment's fate was sealed before a single tent was pitched, documents reveal

 

The Orchard has obtained hundreds of pages of correspondence from the university's executive leadership team, campus security, Calgary police and the provincial government.

In the early hours of May 9, 2024, a pro-Palestinian encampment was erected at the University of Calgary to protest Israel’s war on Gaza, which had killed at least 35,000 Palestinians, though medical experts would soon warn that the true figure was almost certainly far higher.

The UCalgary students and other community members involved in the protest were part of a broader movement at campuses across the United States and Canada calling for their institutions to disclose investments and divest from those implicated in Israel’s genocidal war.

These encampments lasted for varying amounts of time, but few, if any, were shorter lived than the one at UCalgary. 

Before anyone had the chance to stay overnight, Calgary police officers stormed onto campus dressed like they were going to war. The cops violently dismantled the protest camp, firing 15 pepperball rounds and four pepper grenades at the participants and using a degree of physical force that gave at least two protestors traumatic brain injuries.

Shortly after the encampment was aggressively dispersed, the Orchard filed a freedom of information request with UCalgary, seeking all correspondence from May 1 to May 13 to and from the university’s executive leadership team, which consists of the president and seven vice-presidents, regarding the encampment. 

In late January, this outlet received four tranches of internal correspondence, each about 200 pages long, including significant redactions and duplicates. 

These documents show that, even before a single tent peg was placed in the ground, UCalgary administration’s intention was to make the encampment disappear.  (more...)

UCalgary Palestine encampment's fate was sealed before a single tent was pitched, documents reveal