​To: The Administration of the University of New Brunswick,

We, the undersigned members of the University of New Brunswick community, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners, as well as the members of Palestine Solidarity Committee Saint John, Fredericton Palestine Solidarity and Independent Jewish Voices New Brunswick, hereby submit this petition to demand transparency and total divestment from all associations, partnerships, and investments complicit with Israel’s domination of the Palestinian people and territories, including but not limited to the university's partnership with CyberSpark [1,2].

It has come to our attention that the University of New Brunswick maintains various ties with Israeli entities, including research partnerships, financial investments, and student exchanges [3]. Of particular concern is the university’s partnership between the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity and CyberSpark, the Israeli cybersecurity institute which has direct connections to the Israeli Defense Forces [4,5,6]. CyberSpark is the home of Unit 8200, the IDF's elite intelligence unit responsible for operating AI and machine learning weapons targeting systems, which was the subject of an extensive investigative report into its involvement in massacres of civilians [7,8]. We believe that partnerships, such as the one with CyberSpark, are ethically and morally unacceptable given the Israeli government's persistent violations of human rights and international law in its domination of the Palestinian people, the occupation of Palestinian territories, and the ongoing war on Gaza [9,10,11].

The Israeli government's policies, including the occupation of Palestinian territories, the construction of illegal settlements, systematic discrimination against Palestinians which constitutes apartheid, the blocking of aid and the ongoing war on Gaza have been widely condemned by the international community and numerous human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, and United Nations bodies [12,13,14]. Since October 7th, 2023, Israel has destroyed virtually all of the Gaza Strip, killed at least 35,287 Palestinians, including 14500 thousand children, and injured 78,000, as of May 7th, 2024 [15].This has rendered 1.9 million Gazans internal refuges. Most of these have moved to 'safe-zones' such as Rafah, which has come under increasing bombardment and is now facing a potential full scale invasion [16]. The International Court of Justice ruled in January that Israel’s military operations in Gaza may plausibly constitute genocide [17]. This finding has been echoed by Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who stated in March that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide…has been met" by Israel's actions in Gaza [18].

By maintaining associations, partnerships, and investments with Israel, the University of New Brunswick risks complicity in these violations, including the plausible charge of genocide [19]. As members of the university community, we cannot stand idly by while our institution supports entities that are implicated in these crimes against international and humanitarian laws.

We demand that the University of New Brunswick:

1. Disclose all its associations, partnerships, and investments with Israeli entities, including but not limited to academic institutions, private corporations and governmental bodies.

2. Cease all collaborations and partnerships with and divest all investments from Israeli entities that are complicit in the occupation of Palestinian territories and the maintenance of the apartheid regime, including but not limited to academic institutions, private corporations, and governmental bodies.

3. Implement a comprehensive divestment strategy to ensure that the university's funds are not used to support Israeli institutions that are complicit in human rights violations, including the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as divestment from the broader military-industry complex including weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and fossil fuel companies.

4. Commit to a boycott of Israeli universities, institutions, and academics, which all play key role in maintaining the illegal occupation of Palestine, including the develop of weapons systems deployed against civilians.

5. Take a clear stand by calling out Israel's current assault on Gaza, its long history of occupation and domination, and its repeated, well documented violations of international humanitarian laws.

Transparency and accountability are fundamental principles that should guide the actions of our institution. As members of the university community, we have a right to know how our resources are being used, especially if the university’s investments and partnerships are aiding in grievous crimes against Palestinians. As an educational institution committed to social responsibility and justice, the University of New Brunswick has a moral obligation to ensure that its actions align with principles of human rights and international law.

We call on the university administration to heed this petition and take immediate steps to disclose and divest from all its associations, partnerships, and investments with Israel. Failure to do so would constitute a betrayal of the university's values and principles.

[1] https://huddle.today/2017/05/15/unb-partners-israeli-cybersecurity-initiative/
[2] https://blogs.unb.ca/newsroom/2021/07/unbs-energia-ventures-continues-to-offer-entrepreneurs-support-with-help-from-acoa.php
[3] https://blogs.unb.ca/newsroom/2023/07/tour-of-israel.php
[4] https://www.jpost.com/not-just-news/grapevine-375731#google_vignette
[5] https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20220216-france-launches-cyber-city-to-pool-resources-for-better-digital-security
[6] https://globalbridges-forum.org/vi-study-trip-to-israel-and-the-west-bank/
[7] https://www.gov.il/en/pages/speechcyber140914
[8] https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
[9] https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session55/advance-versions/a-hrc-55-73-auv.pdf
[10] https://www.un.org/unispal/document/undp-escwa-report-1may2024/
[11] https://www.ochaopt.org/
[12] https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
[13] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
[14] https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12585.doc.htm
[15] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
[16] https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/20/most-gazas-population-remains-displaced-and-harms-way
[17] https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203454
[18] https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147976
[19] https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf

Sincerely,