Community Open Letter to University of Windsor
Dear Robert Gordon and University Administration,
We, the undersigned members of the University and Windsor community at large, write to you with a deep sense of urgency and collective purpose. Amidst our mourning, the encampment has brought together students, faculty, staff, and community members, all calling for the same cause. We are united in our commitment to justice, human rights, and preservation of the lives and freedoms of the Palestinian people. We call on the University Administration to fully meet the demands of the student-led Liberation Zone:
1. Disclose: Disclose all institutional expenditures, including direct and indirect investments, endowments, stocks, and bonds, with explicit clarity.
2. Divest: Divest from Israeli companies and international corporations investing in or enabling Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as the genocide in Gaza is a moral, ethical and legal imperative for the University of Windsor.
3. Defend: Protect Palestinians and allies from anti-Palestinian racism and uphold academic freedoms and human rights (including freedom of expression) in academic environments.
4. Declare: Issue a public statement condemning Israel’s illegal occupation, ongoing genocide, and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. This recognition is in accordance with the university’s commitment towards principles of decolonization, human rights, social justice, and anti-racism.
5. Support: Provide opportunities to support Palestinian students and scholars, provide resources and services to promote mental health and wellbeing of Palestinians and allies.
6. Boycott: End any current or future academic agreements with Israeli institutions, and initiate academic collaboration with Palestinian institutions.
The student encampment that officially launched on May 10th is now entering its fourth week. The encampment joins a vast global movement of hundreds of other student encampments determined to hold their institutions accountable for their participation in apartheid, occupation, and genocide. We urge you to recognize that the encampment is not only an act of protest, but a display of profound desperation, anger, and grief for our people in Palestine — our families, friends, and communities who are being violently and indiscriminately displaced, dispossessed, and murdered.
Since October 2023, Israel’s military assault has caused the deaths of over 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the destruction of entire cities. Educational institutions have been deliberately targeted: as of January 17th, not a single university remained standing in the entire Strip. Among the targeted assassinations were three university presidents, 95 deans and professors, 4,327 students, and 231 teachers and administrators.
We share with you the statement issued on May Day by twenty Palestinian universities to the Palestine solidarity encampments:
“In a moment of great darkness, your protests erupt and give hope for humanity that justice is not an abstract concept but a continuous struggle that connects us all. Your values are emancipating the university from structural racism and complicity with power and colonialism… We welcome you at our universities in a liberated Palestine.”
Our objective is unmistakable: we must end the University of Windsor’s complicity (through active and passive means) in Israel’s illegal, genocidal campaign, beyond any doubt.
Thus, the students have been driven to importunity to achieve tangible commitments from you, as an institution. Let it be known, we are deeply committed to these students, and expect you to demonstrate due care, justice, and attention during these negotiations. We urge you to act in good faith by engaging in meaningful, congenial dialogue with the students, especially respecting, protecting, and appreciating them as valued members of our communities.
Remember: if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor (Desmond Tutu, 1931). Inaction is taking a side — the wrong one. We call on you to stand on the right side of history by supporting this movement for the freedom, dignity, and self-determination for Palestinians. Nevertheless, we are watching, and history will judge the moral courage of this institution’s response during an opportunity to become a champion of human rights on a global stage.
We anticipate you will make the right choice in supporting these students in their purpose for Palestinian liberation. We owe it to our colleagues — Palestinian universities, Palestinian students, the Palestinian people — to reform our broken institutions to become beacons of the highest ethical and moral standards that institutions like yourselves strive to model for the youth.
Every university in Palestine will stand tall, free of occupation and oppression, free of ubiquitous checkpoints, and free of daily incursions on campus by Zionist occupation forces in a liberated and free Palestine.
From the river to the sea,
This letter is signed and endorsed by:List updated periodically.
A Dutty Boukman Book Club
Ahlul Bayt Community Centre
Ahlul Bayt Youth Committee
Arab Student Association – University of Windsor
Bachelors of Arts and Science Association – University of Windsor
Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario
Canadian Network on Cuba
Canadian Palestinian Social Association
Canadian Peace Congress
Canadian Women Against Zionism
Canadian Union of Labour Employees
Change Course
CJAM
Communist Party of Canada
Dabaja Legal
East End Acts
Education Society – University of Windsor
Faculty 4 Palestine
Faculty 4 Palestine – Southwest Ontario
Filipino Student Association – University of Windsor
Filipinos United for Palestine
Form for Anti-Caste Activism – University of Toronto
Fridays For Future – Windsor-Essex
Hamilton 4 Palestine
Independent Jewish Voices
Independent Jewish Voices – Hamilton Chapter
Independent Jewish Voices – London Chapter
International Socialists
Islamic Relief – University of Windsor
Jewish Faculty Network – Southwest Ontario Chapter
Just Peace Advocates
Justicia/Justice for Migrant Workers
Kashmir Gulposh
Labour for Palestine – Canada
Lawyers for Palestine
McMaster Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR)
MEDLIFE – University of Windsor
Middle Eastern Student Association – University of Windsor
Muslim Legal Support Centre
Muslim Student Committee – St. Clair College
Muslim Students Association – University of Windsor
Nisa Foundation
Palestinian High School Coalition – Windsor
Palestinian Solidarity Group – University of Windsor
Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)
Palestinian Youth Movement – Toronto Chapter
Pakistan Student Association (PSA) – University of Windsor
Queer & Trans Migrant Advocacy Alliance of Windsor-Essex County
Researchers, Academics & Advocates Centering Equity & Solidarity
Scarborough Southwest for Palestine
Spring Socialist Network
STEMxPolicy – University of Windsor
Student for Justice in Palestine – Toronto Metropolitan University
Students Supporting Seniors Club – University of Windsor
Tamil Students’ Association
Thaqalayn Muslim Association – University of Windsor
The Canadian BDS Coalition & International BDS Allies
The Mosque and School of Ahlul Bayt
The River and the Land
UNIFOR Local 2025
University of Windsor Welcomes Nursing Students – University of Windsor
Windsor 4 Palestine (W4P)
Windsor Islamic Council (WIC)
World BEYOND War Canada
Young Communist League of Canada
Young Muslim Sisters – Windsor
UWIN RAACES 