NEWS GLEAMS | Deal Struck To Remove UW Pro-Palestinian Encampment

A roundup of news and announcements we don't want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle.

by Vee Hua 華婷婷

Deal Struck To Remove Pro-Palestinian Encampment at University of Washington

After a deal was struck with University of Washington (UW) administrators last Friday, May 17, the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Washington has agreed to remove their tents from the campus Quad by 3 p.m. Monday, May 20. The encampment started in late April as a part of a nationwide movement called "Popular University for Gaza," where students at college campuses across the country set up encampments to demand that their schools divest from companies that are enabling Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza, including Boeing.

The organizers behind UW United Front for Palestinian Liberation have agreed not to reestablish the "Liberated Zone" on campus as a part of the deal. "We are under no illusions that this agreement is a win," the organizers wrote on their Instagram page, while ensuring that their organizing will not end with the disbandment of the encampment. "The only true victory is Palestinian Liberation. Specifics of our demands remain unfulfilled, and the University has shown marked reluctance toward making progress in reducing our complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine … However, this agreement achieves gains which put us on the path of achieving our demands."

In a letter that called for an immediate permanent ceasefire and recognized the humanitarian tragedy of civilian deaths and widespread starvation in Gaza, President Ana Mari Cauce wrote, "These tragic events have sparked intense debate and passionate activism. The university administration has a long history of engagement and dialogue with its students on issues they care deeply about. These discussions are not always easy, but they are essential to learning, understanding, and collective action. We are committed to ongoing and constructive engagement on issues that are important and meaningful to our students and broader campus community."

The university agreed to a number of concessions to the protestors in exchange for the removal of the Liberated Zone. They include but are not limited to:

• The Board of Regents' establishment of policies and procedures for managing divestment requests, though they do not commit to the actual divestments.
• The establishment of an Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing, and if criteria are met, that two representatives recommended by the United Front for Palestinian Liberation would be advanced to the committee.
• Transparency from UW about investment ties to companies like Boeing, major weapons manufacturers, or companies domiciled in Israel.
• Full tuition waivers for at least 20 Palestinian students from Gaza.
• The creation of a faculty committee to recommend changes to study abroad programs, which may include ending or preventing programs in Israel that may be inherently discriminatory against Palestinians.
• Funding that would help support a Palestine studies center and to support an already-existing Islamophobia task force.
• Assistance to help faculty make academic connections with Palestinian universities.

On May 7, Israel launched an offensive on Rafah, where over a million Palestinians were residing, largely displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip. For months, Israel has warned of its plans to attack Rafah but has delayed its actions due to strong condemnation from international governments and groups from around the world. Even the United States has warned that an Israeli invasion of Rafah without a "comprehensive" plan for the evacuation of civilians would constitute a "red line" for the administration of President Joe Biden. After Biden ordered a brief pause in weapons shipments to Israel following the Rafah offensive, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Saturday to resume weapons shipments to Israel. While the bill is not expected to become law, it is a rebuke of Biden's actions.

The prosecutor's office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) also announced today that they are seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three leaders of Hamas on the basis of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Hamas leaders include Yahya Sinwar, its leader in Gaza, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri or Mohammed Deif, its military wing's commander-in-chief, and Ismail Haniyeh, its political leader.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN that the basis of Israeli arrest warrants include "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict."

The announcement comes after South Africa returned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the second time last week, to argue that ICJ should order Israel to "immediately withdraw and cease its military operations in the Rafah governate" due to their violation of the UN Genocide Convention. South Africa then laid out statistics and facts related to Israel's prevention of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and number of civilian deaths. Israel refuted South Africa's claims, calling them an "obscene exploitation" of the Genocide Convention.

"Genocide," under international law, is defined as "committing one or more acts with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group." Acts that must be prohibited include killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The first time South Africa and Israel were at the ICJ in December 2023, South Africa had argued that Israel was committing genocide, and the ICJ — while stopping short of ruling Israel's actions as genocidal, which is a lengthy process — ordered that Israel must take steps to ensure that their military actions were not genocidal and to enable humanitarian assistance.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza estimates that more than 35,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 79,000 wounded in Gaza since Oct. 7.

Tree Equity Network Welcomes Resource-Sharing About Tree Canopy

On June 1, Seattle Parks Foundation is hosting a collaborative in-person session at Othello Commons centered around tree equity in South Seattle and South King County. Through the afternoon event, the foundation hopes to create a network of resources and partners in the area that could work together collectively to advance regional tree canopy goals. Seattle Parks Foundation also hopes to identify shared community-centered goals and visions for tree canopy as well as create affinity groups that would help advance individual projects and policies.

Previous reporting from Crosscut has outlined that though Seattle aims to increase its tree canopy size to 30% by 2037, it is falling well below its target. An assessment based on the City of Seattle's Office of Sustainability and Environment using information from the University of Vermont's Spatial Analysis Lab found a "Greenlake-sized hole" in the Seattle tree canopy,

Based on data from 2021, the research found that though there were "1,534 newly recognizable acres of canopy, 1,790 acres were lost. That equals a 0.5% reduction in the amount of city land covered by canopy, from 28.6% coverage in 2016 to 28.1% in 2021, or a relative loss of 1.7% of the total canopy."

Healthy tree canopies help combat pollution with fresh air and reduce heat during summer months with shade and water retention. Access to greener spaces also supports positive mental health outcomes.

Join the Tree Equity Network event on Saturday, June 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Othello Commons (4200 S Othello St.). Stipends are also available at $50/hr for participation. Register online.

Local Sightings Film Festival Is Open for Submissions From Pacific Northwest Filmmakers

Submissions are now open for Northwest Film Forum's 26th Annual Local Sightings Film Festival, which showcases the growing complexity of creative communities in the Pacific Northwest. Featuring a competitive selection of curated shorts and feature film programs, Local Sightings invites regional artists to experiment, break, and remake popular conceptions around filmmaking and film exhibition.

Local Sightings is the only film festival across the entire Pacific Northwest that highlights filmmakers from the region. It is focused on connecting artists, building relationships, and celebrating talent from as far south as the Oregon-California border, as far east as Montana, and as far north as British Columbia and Alaska.

The 2024 festival will take place from Sept. 20 to 29 and will be a hybrid event, with both in-person and online screenings.

Submit projects online via FilmFreeway by May 27 for the cheaper regular deadline. The festival's late deadline closes on June 24.

📸 Featured Image: Patches of discolored grass show where tents started coming down at the "Popular University of Gaza" encampment at the University of Washington Quad over the weekend. (Photo: Susan Fried)

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