University of Winnipeg encampment leaves grounds after 7 weeks

What began as a protest in front of the University of Winnipeg Monday afternoon ended with the dismantling of the encampment known as the People’s University for Palestine.

After seven weeks of demonstrations, all that was left of the camp were the barricades.

“The university did not move us. The university has not impacted the momentum of our movement,” said Jim, a student at the camp using an alias. Fearing for their safety, all camp members have been using code names.

“We are doing this on our terms,” Jim said. “We’re taking our own power back from the university so that it cannot claim or have anything under their belt saying, ‘Oh, we did this to you.'”

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Related: Faculty supporters gather at UW to commemorate 1 month of the encampment

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The camp was quietly dismantled by students during the protest, which brought together dozens of people in front of Wesley Hall — students, faculty and supporters. Chants were echoing calls heard for the last seven weeks: for the institution to divest from any companies advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza.

It was a move Jim called “powerful,” as all over North America, many institutions are taking steps to remove encampments and its residents.

The university said in an email statement Monday that the encampment did not communicate their departure in advance.

“On May 31, the University had publicly shared that it does not have any equity investments of any kind. The endowment held by the UW Foundation—a separate entity from the University—is 100% donor-funded, does not receive any funds to invest on behalf of the University, provides student scholarships and not funding for the University, and is managed by an external company that follows the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment,” it said.

Jim, emotional from looking at the empty camp, said people needed to step back and regroup. Before the protest ended and students exited the grounds, they stapled letters to the barricades that were left behind.

“We would have removed the barricades but the UW did not engage with any of our demands … To our working class comrades who will clean this up on the university’s behalf, we apologize … As we continue to work towards the better world we fiercely believe is possible—one without border walls, apartheid walls, or prison walls—it is our hope that in the future we can tear down such walls together without fear of persecution,” the letter said in part.

Many onlookers were also emotional looking at grounds, including Caralee. She declined to provide her last name for fear of safety.

“We’ve raised (these kids) for change. We’ve raised them to make the world a better place and when in the history of the world have the kids protesting, when has it ever been wrong? We think of Vietnam, we think of South Africa, we think of our own Indigenous Peoples here. We think of Black Lives Matter. It’s just humanity. Humanity is everything,” she said.

It’s not the first time students in the encampment have been compared to students protesting for peace in the past. Political science professor Peter Ives previously told CityNews: “Obviously there’s a long history of students being on the right side of history, going back to the Vietnam War protests up through the anti-Apartheid in South Africa and up to today. Obviously they’re following in a strong and important tradition.”

Andy, an alias, said fighting for change is continuing a legacy of resilience.

“It’s really wonderful imagining that in a hundred years from now, we’ll be put into the same boat as those students who protested the Vietnam War, who protested the South African Apartheid state, and that we did something and tried to make change in the world,” they said.

Representatives from the encampment say although they’ve left the grounds, their movement is not over. Jim says the group will be back.

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RELATED:

• University of Manitoba’s pro-Palestinian encampment commemorates Nakba Day
• Pro-Palestinian protesters at both Winnipeg campus encampments demand transparency from their universities

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