Protesters had set up about 20 tents on MacInnes Field by noon, erecting temporary fencing around the site and requiring people to wear masks to enter.
In a series of messages posted on social media platform X, UBC protest organizers have asked supporters to bring tents and sandbags, as well as food, water, first aid and generators. Eby said the comments about the attack, that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were"the most hateful" he could imagine.
Naisha Khan, a spokeswoman for the protest camp, said tents started going up at 5 a.m. Monday, with attendees coming from UBC as well as Simon Fraser University and Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Israel's offensive, which came after the Oct. 7 attack, has led to more than 34,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the local health ministry.
Khan said the protesters wouldn't leave until UBC supported the Palestinian right to"resistance," and the right of return to what is now Israel.