This motion has been drafted in fulfillment of commitments made in the May 3rd 2024 letter, Message to Students. It was submitted, alongside supporting signatures of 146 faculty, to the Faculty Association executive on June 3rd, to be added to the upcoming FA AGM Agenda, scheduled for June 27th, 1 to 3pm. We are hugely grateful to the support of our colleagues with getting us to this point and we hope to update with good news soon that it has been adopted at the AGM.

Whereas the state of Israel, and countries directly supporting the Israeli military operation in Gaza, are currently accused of and/or under investigation for violations against Palestinians under: International Humanitarian Law; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Whereas Israel’s military offensive has continued in contravention of calls for a ceasefire by world leaders and international bodies, and despite mounting evidence that this offensive plausibly includes crimes against humanity, including the crime of genocide against the people of Palestine and the use of intentional starvation of civilians as a method of warfare;

Whereas Canada carries obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Canada is both a signatory and primary architect;

Whereas Palestinian Higher Education institutions issued a “Unified Call for Justice and Freedom” in November 2023, calling on their global counterparts to take concrete actions to fulfill our intellectual and academic duties by standing with them against genocidal assaults in Gaza and the decimation of all Gazan universities;

Whereas as a result of over 7 months of military assault by the State of Israel: more than 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors have been killed in Gaza, and over 7,819 students and 756 teachers have been injured; at least 60 percent of educational facilities, including 13 public libraries, 195 heritage sites, including the Central Archives of Gaza, containing 150 years of history, have been damaged or destroyed; at least 625,000 students have no access to education; and, the last remaining university in Gaza was demolished by the Israeli military on January 17, 2024; 

Whereas our University is directly complicit in this destruction of life, land, and knowledge through direct and indirect investments in UBC’s endowment portfolio.

Whereas the investment practices of public institutions, including UBC, should be transparent, open and responsive to scrutiny, and in alignment with institutional values and obligations;

Whereas university investments in, profits from, or partnerships with states, entities or institutions that violate international laws and/or our own national, provincial or institutional ratified statements, strategies and commitments compromise the integrity and relevance of our institution; 

Whereas Canada, and its public institutions, including our own university and its investments, communications, and interactions, may all be subject to International Court of Justice proceedings.

Calls on UBC’s Senior Administration to work with external fund managers to release a public listing of the current holdings of the UBC Endowment including detailed reports on pooled-funds within thirty days of the adoption of this motion;

Calls on UBC’s Board of Governors and UBC Faculty Pension Plan to immediately divest from pooled and direct investments that have been identified as: (1) directly supplying the military operations of the Israeli state; (2) indirectly supporting their operations (including with businesses operating within illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or through formal academic partnerships with institutions complicit in Israel’s military operation in Gaza); and/or, investments in the following companies in UBC’s portfolio identified here;

Calls on UBC’s Board of Governors to develop, disclose and adequately resource a transparent process for divestment or reallocation of investments guided by evidence and ethics-based dialogue across the university community, by September 30th, 2024;

Calls on our UBC Board of Governors to communicate to our campus community the steps they will take to protect our institution from potential rulings by the International Court of Justice against Canada;

Calls on our UBC Board of Governors and Senates to communicate to our campus community how they will uphold our commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals & The Okanagan Charter with regard to the unfolding catastrophes in Gaza, and to identify support for faculty, staff and students to meet our collective obligations to both;

Calls on UBC’s Senates and Provosts to work with the Scholars at Risk Canada Section and UBC Scholars at Risk Advisory Committee to identify and secure, by September 1st 2024, tangible supports for Palestinian academics and students, including, for example: needs related to student visas; pathways to immigration via training opportunities; fellowships, scholarships and financial aid; and, support for rebuilding and/or re-establishing destroyed academic assets and structures, as requested in the open letter from academics in Gaza released on June 1st 2024 here.

Authorship & Acknowledgements

lead authors & ES Lab co-directors:

Dr. Sana Shahram, PhD MPH

Dr. Katrina Plamondon, PhD RN

Assistant Professors Faculty of Health & Social Development School of Nursing

with support and contributions from:

Ms. Sharon Crux Rasi, MSW, RSW Field Education Coordinator, School of Social Work

Rebecca Frechette, BSc, MKin, CSEP Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Practicum Placement Coordinator/Instructor, School of Health and Exercise Sciences

Dr. Veena Sriram, PhD
Assistant Professor Faculty of Medicine, School of Population & Public Health & Faculty of Arts, School of Public Policy & Global Affairs

Dr. Annalee Yassi, MD MSc FRCPC
Professor Faculty of Medicine School of Population & Public Health

Dr. Joan L. Bottorff, PhD RN 
Professor Faculty of Health & Social Development School of Nursing

Dr. Devon Greyson, PhD MLIS Assistant Professor Faculty of Medicine   School of Population & Public Health

Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura , PhD 博士（社会文化人類学）中村冬日 Curator, Asia, Museum of Anthropology Assistant Professor Faculty of Arts   Department of Asian Studies

Dr. Jerry Spiegel, PhD
Professor Faculty of Medicine School of Population & Public Health

Dr. Erin Baines, PhD Associate Professor Faculty of Arts, School of Public Policy & Global Affairs

Dr. Christina Laffin, PhD Associate Professor Department of Asian Studies

Dr. Carol Fenton, MD FRCPC Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Jeffrey More Assistant Professor of Teaching Faculty of Health & Social Development School of Social Work

Dr. Jordy Rosenberg Associate Professor Department of English Language and Literatures

Mohammad Rafi Arefin Assistant Professor Department of Geography