Please come out to the Community Hall on Friday, May 30th at 5 for a benefit supper and film at 6 to support Sara Kishawi, who was suspended for two years from Vancouver Island University for her advocacy for Palestinian rights. Sara is a Palestinian Muslim woman who was a leader at VIU’s Palestinian Solidarity Encampment, and suspended for her involvement in a series of actions promoting Palestinian human rights. Ms. Kishawi participated in a sit-in, put up “unsanctioned” posters, climbed a ladder to straighten a banner and other student activities. She was suspended for two years, during which time she cannot access her academic records or apply for further schooling. Of all the people who engaged in these actions, Palestinian students who were leaders of VIU’s encampment were the only ones to face suspensions, despite dozens of settlers involved in actions similar to the ones that Sara was suspended for.
This racial profiling and selective punishment mirrors similar arrests and suspensions across US campuses. Columbia University in New York alone has suspended 65 students. Hunger strikes are spreading now that police brutality and harsh penalties have had a chilling effect on the encampment movement. The Denman Palestinian Solidarity group is showing the documentary, The Encampments, produced by Watermelon Productions in 2025, which looks at some of the history of protest at Columbia and some of the peoples lives who have been impacted recently. Student protesters claim that Columbia incites racial violence against them and are being labelled “anti-Semitic” meanwhile Mahmoud Khalil, arrested at Columbia, without charges, on March 15, remains in custody, one thousand miles away from his newborn son.
Sara has filed a judicial review of her suspension with the BC Supreme Court seeking that her suspension be canceled on the grounds that it is a disproportionate and draconian response to her actions. VIU has previously argued that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to their discipline of students, despite the significant impacts that suspensions can have on students. Denman lawyer Noah Ross is representing Sara in this litigation. Sara was suspended based on VIU’s non-academic misconduct policy. Universities across British Columbia have instituted non-academic misconduct policies and this litigation is one of the first cases to challenge University discipline based on these policies. For more information or If you cannot attend but can help with fundraising, donations can be sent via e-transfer to <ejmuirhead4@gmail.com>.
