Eight years later: two referendums and two different results

Can you remember what you were doing eight years ago? Do you remember what the world was like back then? Probably not– recalling memories from eight years prior would be a difficult task for anyone to achieve. However, there can be no denying that every single moment of those eight years was a building block for who you are and what the world is now. Little steps of change can be felt in everything that happens, even if that change occurred just yesterday.

Eight years ago, a referendum was called to discuss severing ties with five Israeli institutes. The question posed by the referendum was, “Do you think the University of Waterloo should sever ties with the following institutions due to their complicity in violation of human rights of Palestinians?” The institutions listed were University of Haifa, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University, and Weizmann Institute of Science. 

Both sides were allowed to argue their beliefs before the student body at a debate held in January 2016. During the debate, the two sides argued over three points:

• Maintaining or severing ties with the universities will benefit those living in the region of the universities (Israel and Palestine)
• Maintaining or severing ties with the universities will benefit the undergraduate students of the University of Waterloo
• Maintaining or severing ties with the universities will benefit Canadian society at large 

The ‘no’ side believed that academics should be kept separate from politics. They stated that by severing ties with the five universities, there would be numerous consequences. For example, they spoke about the shortage of water in the Middle East, mentioning the research that Technion is conducting around water contamination and the harm that would come from severing ties. They mentioned reduced opportunities for co-op students, lack of innovation, and discrimination against Jewish students and Israeli universities. Furthermore, they stated that a university should not be held accountable for the actions of their country. 

“There will be no benefit of this referendum to the Palestinian people or to the Israeli people living in the affected regions. There will be no benefit, the only end result of severing ties will be to create a further rift between the two nations,” one member stated during the debate. 

The ‘yes’ side argued that they were only seeking to target the five universities that are complicit with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), as opposed to all universities within Israel. They sought to follow the guidelines that Palestinians have highlighted for them in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) movement. The ‘yes’ side spoke about the worsening violent conflict and how they wanted something to be done about it. Additionally, they asserted that they did not want their university identities to be associated with human rights violations, emphasizing that the conversation was larger than politics and that they should be having this conversation regardless of its political nature. 

The ‘yes’ side asked the audience during the debate, “how would it feel if you were a Palestinian refugee coming into Canada and you [found] that your government or maybe even the university that you go to collaborates with universities that build the equipment that made you into a refugee in the first place?”

The result of the referendum was ‘no’ with 55 per cent of voters choosing not to sever ties. It was assumed with that referendum, that the topic would be laid to rest. That stance would begin to see challenges in October 2023 with a number of protests surrounding the partnership between UW and Technion due to Technion’s partnership with the Israeli Defense Forces and their role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. One such protest was an encampment in May by OccupyUW on the GradHouse Green that lasted for eight weeks. Not long after that, the referendum was announced by WUSA. The unrest had been festering for a while until it finally came to a head in Spring 2024. 

In Spring 2024, a referendum was called to discuss severing ties with one Israeli institution, that being Technion. There were two questions posed: 

• Should the University of Waterloo sever its partnership with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology due to its role in the research and development of technology used by the Israel Defense Forces?   
• Should the University of Waterloo review its partnerships and investment portfolios to ensure alignment with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and Amnesty International, to prioritize institutions that demonstrate a commitment to human rights, peace, and international law in a manner that is timely and transparent to the undergraduate student? 

This year, the ‘no’ side of this argued points similar to those from 2016. They mentioned that they wanted to support opportunities for students, collaboration, and prevent the end of innovation as stated on their many Instagram posts. The ‘no’ side insisted upon the improvements made to water purification and shortages. They listed numerous innovative opportunities like quantum computing, making diagnoses faster, new treatment options in medication, and pollution free futures. They highlighted the accomplishments of the relationship between UW and Technion with 11 research projects and $3.4 million in research grants.  The ‘no’ side declared on their Instagram page @uw_voicesforeduacation, “we’re excited to see what the future holds as researchers continue to collaborate across continents, driving innovation that will impact industries and communities around the world.” 

The ‘yes’ side argued for the severing of ties and reviewing of partnerships due to the growing number of human rights violation concerns arising with UW’s relationship with Technion and Technion’s relationship with the Israeli Defence Forces. Yasseen Mobada, media representative for the ‘yes’ side, stated, “The Israeli Defense Forces [are] frequently and currently committing very well-documented war crimes… they’re doing this with the help of many military weapons and so, Technion is participating directly in the research and development [for those weapons]… and because of that, we don’t think it’s ethical, defendable for [UW] to participate in research with them.” The ‘yes’ side affirmed that they do not agree with the university conducting research that “is violating human rights, that is harming the environment, that is going against social goals,” confirming their fight for a review of partnerships. 

The result of this referendum was ‘yes’ for both questions. For the first question, 83.9 per cent of voters chose ‘yes’ and for the second question, 88.6 per cent of voters chose ‘yes.’ 

The arguments for both sides are similar to each other, even eight years later, as the world changed, the two sides remained similar to how they were years prior – however, the results changed. 

When asked of their knowledge of the previous referendum, Mobada said that they were aware of it. “It showed us that our goals were achievable with a highly thought-out and comprehensive campaign,” he said. “It showed us the UW students are conscious of how our institution chooses to impact the world around us. With the current Israeli war crimes throughout the Levant, we were also encouraged that much of the ignorance among the student body that existed some years ago had likely been lifted.”

As previously mentioned, in the year prior to this referendum, a number of large protests took place to demand ties be severed. It is through these several recurring protests that the student body got to know the reasons why the partnership was protested, being convinced of the cause themselves. The protests were rigorous, loud, and had a powerful presence across campus across several months. They drew in a large number of students to participate in them as well. The student body was aware in the year prior to the circumstances surrounding the referendum, and as Mobada suggested, this significantly influenced the results of the referendum.