On March 4, 2024 at Needles Hall, students interrupted the UW Senate meeting to demand that UW sever its ties with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, as well as issue an official statement honouring the death of guest scholar Sofyan Taya, and condemn the genocide in Gaza.
Cries from a rally held by the University of Waterloo Coalition for Liberation could be heard outside the building before a group of students donning keffiyehs, a traditional Arab headdress which has come to represent Palestinians, walked in at roughly 4:10 p.m. and addressed the senate, interrupting Graduate Student Association president Neela Hassan.
One speaker demanded UW end their complicity with the genocide in Gaza, noting that UW maintains ties with Technion in the form of an exchange program and funding to the school, despite the fact that Technion’s research is used by the Israeli Defence Forces to develop weapons and surveillance technology used on Palestinians. The speaker added that UW’s refusal to sever ties with Technion contrasted with the university’s statements of neutrality, and referenced the rally occurring outside the building as proof of the student body’s shared sentiment on the matter.
Several students walked around the room handing out pamphlets with QR codes leading to a document describing UW’s relationship with Technion over the years, as well as outlining Technion’s connections to the IDF.
In response, Technion said that the group’s claims are “baseless.”
“We regret that there are those who choose to support a terrorist organization that commits sex crimes and instead, chooses to attack a leading international academic institution,” the statement added, referencing the recent report released by the United Nations which found “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred at several locations across the Gaza periphery… during the 7 October 2023 attacks.”
The group then chanted over UW president Vivek Goel’s attempts to address them. Their slogans included “sever, sever, sever, sever your ties”, “stop funding genocide,” and “Vivek Goel your hands are red, more than 30,000 dead”.
The numbers are a reference to the current death toll in Palestine, where attacks by Israel have killed over 30,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Israel launched the attacks in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel which killed roughly 1,200 people.
After the students left, Goel addressed the senate, stating, “I do want to remind all members of senate that there’s processes for non-members to request the ability to [unintelligible] a meeting, and barging in and just starting to shout is not one of those processes.” He added that under policy 33, no member of the university community shall unduly interfere with the study, work or working environment of other members of the university, “and that includes disturbing or interrupting environments such as this meeting.”
In a statement to Imprint, the university acknowledged that “the Israel/Gaza war affects many people in our community in many different ways,” and specified that students “are making their voices heard in line with our policy on freedom of speech.”
Other groups have also called for UW to cease its ties with Technion. On Feb. 12, UWaterloo Voices for Palestine, in collaboration with several groups including the University of Waterloo Coalition for Liberation, posted on their Instagram to end UW’s financial partnership with Technion. On Feb. 19, the University of Waterloo Coalition for Liberation posted their petition calling for WUSA to host a referendum wherein students will vote to sever ties between UW and Technion. The result of such a referendum would become WUSA’s official stance on the matter.
“The Technion serves as a shining example of tolerance and coexistence in Israeli society,” the statement concluded, stating that the student body is approximately 25 per cent Arab students, and that “Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze, Circassian, secular, religious, women and men study side by side in full equality… Therefore, harming the Technion is a distorted response to a horrific situation, and only serves to harm the diverse student population that studies there. We are an apolitical Israeli academic institution engaged in groundbreaking scientific research and our achievements are directed for the benefit of all humanity.”
Last updated March 5, 11:30 p.m. to include Technion – Israel Institute of Technology’s statement.
