UW calls police as pro-Palestinian protestors disrupt board meeting

The back and forth between the University of Waterloo (UW) and pro-Palestinian encampment protestors continues, with no real end in sight.

The UW Board of Governors was scheduled to meet on Tuesday, but the meeting was cancelled out of what the school said was “concern for everyone’s safety,” after protestors occupied the area outside meeting room.

In a press release, organizers of Occupy UW, the group responsible for the encampment and Tuesday’s protest, said:

“The students took it upon themselves to make their voices heard as the Board of Governors attempted to meet without addressing their demands. This action follows weeks of bad faith engagements, refusals to negotiate, lies, and repeated smears about the encampment. A tent was set up at the door of the meeting to show support for the student encampment.”

The group is calling on UW to divest and boycott Technion, an institution that is considered the research arm of the Israeli Security Forces. The group has said divestment and boycott were two of its key demands. The other key demand was full disclosure of investments. The University has published its investments online.

Just before the meeting was set to begin UW cancelled it, saying it was doing so to ensure the safety of everyone.

The school also called police at one point. Occupy UW was not a fan of the move.

“In an effort to intimidate the peaceful student protesters and avoid meaningful engagement, the university called the Waterloo Regional Police Service.”

No arrests were made.

In a statement the University said:

“The University has protected everyone’s right to free speech and expression throughout this protest activity, including more than 15 disruptive protest actions on campus since Nov. 2023. The University took no action to interfere with any of these expressions, but the protestors’ actions today were unacceptable.”

UW said it intends to reschedule the meeting.

In response Occupy UW said:

“Our message to the administration is very simple: there will be no business as usual as long as the University of Waterloo remains complicit in genocide.”