On Thursday, December 4, 2025, anti-Zionist groups blocked traffic and prevented students, faculty, and staff from accessing the main UBC campus. Their blockade also impeded access to the UBC Hospital. These actions appear unlawful under the Criminal Code and directly interfered with the ability of students, faculty, and staff to realize UBC’s academic mission.
At the same time, physical posters and social media posts circulated targeting individual UBC Senate and Board of Governors members using demonizing, libellous language. This behaviour is “vexatious or hostile” and “creates a hostile or intimidating environment for working, learning or living” — and thus appears to constitute harassment under UBC’s Bullying and Harassment policy.
One person’s right to protest should not deprive others of their rights and freedoms, and all members of the university community should be able to work and study in safety without having to fear violence or other forms of intimidation. We at JAABC condemn unlawful protests and the hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric used by the protesters and on-campus anti-Zionist groups.
JAABC calls on:
- The RCMP to investigate protesters whose participation in the blockade appears to be illegal and Crown counsel to prosecute protesters whose actions appeared to have been illegal.
- UBC to formally investigate the targeted harassment campaigns against individual community members, and to discipline those responsible.
- UBC to institute and enforce time, place, and manner restrictions on protests for the purpose of protecting the academic mission.
Universities must remain spaces for robust and respectful dialogue, not arenas for intimidation.