A pro-Palestinian encampment occupied the Studley quad at Dalhousie University over the summer to protest Israel’s military attacks in Gaza.

The demonstration was orchestrated by the Students for the Liberation of Palestine – Kjipuktuk (SLPK). The encampment, which was set up on May 12, lasted 78 days before its removal by Dal on July 29. This comes after Dal issued a notice of trespass to campers on July 26.

Dal told the students they had to vacate the property by 7 p.m. on July 28, but the deadline came and went with minimal interference from security. Demonstrators gathered throughout the evening into the early hours of July 29 to show support for the encampment.

Sara MacCallum, president of the King’s Student Union says security began taking down tents on the morning of July 29. After push back from protestors they paused their efforts and put up caution tape around the encampment.

According to the SLPK Instagram account, police arrived on the scene around 4 p.m., shortly after the students moved tents into the Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building. The police reportedly told the students to vacate the building and supported Dal security in dismantling the encampment.

Global News, CBC, The Coast, and other publications also reported police presence that afternoon. The Watch reached out to the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) for a comment. In an email statement, Cst. Martin Cromwell said the HRP was not involved in the dismantling of the encampment on July 29.

“That’s a lie,” says MacCallum. “That is an outright lie.”

HRP did not respond to The Watch’s request for clarification.

The students created a list of demands for five universities in Halifax, two of which called on King’s to disclose its investments and suspend all investments tied to Israel.

In a letter addressed to the King’s community on July 11, president William Lahey announced that as of June 24, King’s had divested entirely from weapons manufacturing. Lahey referenced the Responsible Investing Policy, which was adopted by the university in 2021.

The policy states that the university divest from any industries that do not align with the school’s values, including “weapons manufacturing and tobacco/vaping.”

Until June 24, the letter states the percentage of managed funds invested by King’s in weapons manufacturing was 0.75 per cent.

The policy also commits King’s to publishing its list of investments on the university’s website at least annually. July 11 was the first time King’s has disclosed its investments.

It is notable that according to the published holdings report, King’s is still invested in tobacco.

The Watch reached out to Lahey for a comment on the decision to disclose and divest. Lahey refused to respond but cited the July 11 statement.

A Jewish student at King’s condemns the school’s response to pro-Palestinian support over the last year. They believe Lahey is failing to meet his obligations as an administrator. The source spoke to The Watch under the condition of anonymity due to campus safety concerns associated with their Jewish identity.

“It’s really disheartening and frustrating to see . . . this person who is supposed to listen to the students, that is one of his main roles, in a lot of cases refuse to listen to those students,” they say.

Dr. Dorota Glowacka, a leading Holocaust and genocide studies researcher at King’s says that although she supports the students’ message, she understands the fear many Jewish students and faculty are experiencing.

“On October 7, the immediate response is ‘that’s like another holocaust’ sort of threatening the very basis of Jewish existence,” she says.

“I cannot deny my Jewish colleagues and especially my Jewish students to whom I have an obligation the legitimacy of that claim.”

The Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, killed nearly 1200 people. Gaza health authorities say more than 40,000 people have been killed by Israel since then.

Being Jewish herself, Dr. Glowacka says fear is not an excuse to exonerate what she calls “genocidal acts” by the Israeli government.

“If we are to use that argument and say that because of intergenerational trauma we are so invested into the idea of Jewish suffering that we deny extending compassion to others, that I find unconscionable,” she says.

The Jewish student at King’s says Lahey’s strong reactions against pro-Palestinian support is an attempt to accommodate this fear and prove that the university is not antisemitic.

“I totally understand that impulse,” they say. “I understand that in a lot of ways he is coming from a good place, or what he believes is a good and right place. But it is just perpetuating stereotypes that are damaging and can be dangerous to Jewish students.”

The student says that because of the conflation between Judaism and Zionism they have seen a huge divide on campus. 

‘“I do feel afraid when I meet new Jewish people because I don’t know if they view me as less Jewish,” they say.

The student says the term “self-hating Jew” is often used to describe Jewish people who don’t support the Zionist movement.

“I was called that once and I laughed,” they say.

“I am so proud to be Jewish.”