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       Protect pro-Palestinian protesters on campuses: B.C. rights watchdog
        
 (HTM) Source
        
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       Amid ongoing protest encampments on university campuses in B.C., the
       province's human rights commissioner is calling on institutions to
       protect free speech.
        
       In a statement Monday, Kasari Govender said she is concerned about
       students being penalized for protesting in solidarity with the
       Palestinian people.
        
       "Rights and responsibilities do not end at campus gates. Campus
       communities have the right to peaceful and lawful assembly and free
       expression," she wrote.
        
       Her statement comes after pro-Palestinian encampments were erected at
       the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and
       Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo last week. Similar protests
       have been taking place at universities across Canada and the United
       States.
        
       Broadly, the organizers of the camps are calling on universities to
       cut ties with Israeli institutions, divest from companies they say are
       complicit in the war in Gaza and condemn Israel's "genocide and
       scholasticide" in Gaza.
        
       Thousands of protesters have been arrested on American college
       campuses, but there have been no major police actions at the
       encampments in B.C.
        
       "Speaking out about atrocities in Gaza or the actions of the state of
       Israel must be allowed," Govender wrote.
        
       She went on to say that there is no place in B.C. for the incitement
       or promotion of hate toward any group, or antisemitism, anti-
       Palestinian racism or Islamophobia.
        
       "So long as those limits are not violated, universities, colleges and
       public institutions should stand up for and protect the rights of
       students, faculty and staff to make their voices heard on campus,
       including through peaceful encampments," she wrote.
        
       Govender said the rights to peaceful and lawful protest are
       "foundational to our democracy" and how decision-makers react to the
       student protest will be a test of its strength.
        
       Also on Monday, an open letter supporting the encampment at UBC was
       sent to administration. The publicly available document has been
       signed by over 1,000 self-identified UBC alumni and current or former
       staff.
        
        
        
        
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