A group of pro-Palestine students who set up a protest camp at the University of B.C. this summer has taken responsibility for vandalizing a building on campus that was due to host an Israeli professor last week.
A student group calling itself the People’s University for Gaza at UBC posted photos of the graffiti-covered Green College coach house after it was vandalized on Oct. 16, with anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans. A window was also broken.
That was the first day of a three-day workshop scheduled at the building by a medieval scholar from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Instagram post continued the group’s call for UBC to divest from and “cut academic ties” with Israel because of its war against Hamas and what it calls a “genocide in Gaza.”
The post, which was submitted anonymously, said that, a year into the war, “UBC still fails. Zionism knows no end. Israel is a terrorist state and a death cult, which UBC disgustingly supports. How dare UBC maintain ties with genocidal universities.”
The incident is one of several since the start of the academic year that has an alliance of Jewish groups calling for UBC to stand more directly against antisemitism on campus.
A joint statement issued Wednesday from Allied Voices for Israel, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, Hillel B.C., the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and StandWithUs Canada said they are “deeply alarmed by the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents at the university.”
The groups claim “Jewish faculty members have been targeted in smear campaigns, anti-Israel student clubs promoted violence and disinformation on their social media platforms, and residents of one student college issued an open letter to administrators riddled with antisemitic propaganda.”
They said they were grateful for an “ongoing dialogue with UBC president Benoit-Antoine Bacon and his administration regarding the growing threats facing the Jewish community at the university.” But it insisted UBC needs to do more “to address the rising tide of hate, intimidation and harassment on campus.”
The groups called on UBC to publicly condemn antisemitic incidents, hold student groups responsible for “hateful rhetoric, glorification of terror or incitement,” provide more education at the university about antisemitism, foster a more inclusive environment on campus and engage directly with Jewish student clubs about their experiences in a “toxic learning environment.”
UBC spokesman Matthew Ramsey said the university condemns the vandalism, calling it “unacceptable and contrary to UBC’s core values.
“As the president has repeatedly stated since last November, hate and discrimination have no place at UBC and every reported incident will be taken very seriously.”
Ramsey said UBC contacted police immediately after the vandalism was reported, and that any members of the UBC community found to have been involved will face disciplinary action.
He said campus security worked with the RCMP and Green College to host the academic event at a different location.
“We continue to monitor and evaluate events and activities on our campuses weekly,” Ramsey said in a statement. “Rigorous protocols are in place for establishing safety plans for all known campus events, particularly those that may include protests or the potential for disruptive activity,” including getting the RCMP directly involved when needed.
“Any incident targeting the Jewish community is not tolerated and UBC remains committed to addressing these incidents while balancing individuals’ rights to freedom of expression.”
RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Vanessa Munn confirmed the incident is being investigated after vandalism to the building in the 6200-block of Cecil Green Park Road was reported at about 7:45 a.m. on Oct. 16.
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