Protestors rally at U of A ‘against scholasticide’ in Gaza

On September 6 at 6:00 p.m., Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a “rally against scholasticide” in Gaza. The rally began in front of the South Academic Building (SAB) at the University of Alberta. 

The United Nations (UN) defines scholasticide as the “systemic obliteration of education through the arrest, detention, or killing of teachers, students, and staff and the destruction of educational infrastructure.” According to the UN, on January 17 the last remaining university in Gaza “was demolished by the Israeli military,” and as of April, over 80 per cent of schools in Gaza were “damaged or destroyed.”

Approximately 100 U of A students, faculty, and community members attended. The purpose of the rally was to “demand that the U of A divest from Israel,” according to an Instagram post for the event. 

One of the event’s organizers — who wished to remain anonymous — said that they “have been rallying to put an end to the genocide happening in Gaza.” 

“We’re protesting for the university to acknowledge their wrongdoings, to acknowledge the genocide that’s happening. And to give us some assurance that they will do something that is in their power to make an impact to stop this genocide. Such as divesting from Israel and Israeli companies,” the organizer said. 

”Not much progress has been made,” organizer says

The rally began with a speech from student Nisrin Salah. Salah said that the purpose of the rally was to remember that “in Gaza, there is no return to school.”

Following Salah’s speech, the attendees of the rally began a march around campus that lasted for approximately 45 minutes. 

After the march, the attendees gathered in front of SAB for another speech. The second speaker shared several stories about the experiences of Palestinians in Gaza. 

“The assault on Palestinian education is not just the destruction of schools. It’s an attack on our thought, our ability to write, to create, to document our history and our future.” 

According to one of the organizers, students are demanding that the U of A disclose all of its investments and divest from Israel and Israeli companies. On June 14, the Board of Governors unanimously voted to disclose the U of A’s Endowment Pool Investment Holdings.

“They’re not disclosing all of them, they’re just disclosing some of them. And that hasn’t happened yet,” they said. “Not much progress has been made over many months.”

After the rally, there was a meeting held by a student-led group called Student Strike 4 Palestine. The meeting took place outside of the Students’ Union Building (SUB).

According to a flyer, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss and organize a student strike to shut down the U of A campus as well as other university campuses across the country.