The vice-rector of Corporate Social Responsibility of the UR, Fabiola Portillo Ruiz de Viñaspre, as interlocutor of the Rectoral team of the UR appointed by the rector, has explained in a letter that “a meeting with Acampada Palestine is not necessary” “since the Council of Government has already decided on the matter and the rector’s team, like the rest of the university community, is left to respect and assume the mandate of its Governing Council.”
At noon today, June 4, Ruiz de Viñaspre sent a response message to the Pro-Palestine Encampment, following the request to meet with the rector made last Friday, May 31. In this message, they point out that the first meeting “took place on May 15 at the request of the rector” when he and I were invited by email to the Camping Assembly on the same day, which was going to take place in the afternoon. Three representatives of the university community attended the aforementioned meeting: two PDI and one PTGAS, and at said meeting, as they are knowledgeable, the rector was present.”
This message continues: “Subsequently, there were two more meetings and members of the Board of Directors were present in all of them. In addition, a series of emails were sent from the rectorate and, among them, one in which, among other questions, they were asked to “request authorization for the camping trip since after several days camping, they had not completed it.”
Finally, they refer to the Governing Council of the University that was held on May 30, where “the requests of the Acampada were distributed to each of the members for their study and debate. Finally, it was agreed to issue a statement and its content was approved by 20 votes in favor, 1 abstention and none against.” With these meetings, they justify that “the meeting requested by the Palestinian Camp is not necessary.”
For all this, and given that their requests were analyzed by the highest governing body of the university and submitted for consideration, we understand that said meeting is not necessary since the Governing Council has already decided on the matter and the rector’s team, like the rest of the university community, we are left to respect and assume the mandate of its Governing Council.
La Acampada announces that it “takes action”
Shortly before this response from the University of La Rioja, the Camp for Palestine had issued a statement announcing that it was “taking action” in the face of “the closed mind” of the rector of the University of La Rioja “who does not want to dialogue with the Camp for Palestine.” “Palestine of La Rioja.” The camping assembly decided to complement the daily activities carried out in the camp with non-violent actions that make their demands visible.
In this sense, they have listed the protests at the Dialnet Global Congress, in the ‘Hoy por hoy’ program and at the beginning of the EBAU. The vice-rector’s intervention “was especially painful for the Acampada, since she explained that, although she personally considered that we were facing a genocide, the University must be neutral in the face of conflicts.”
The University – they explain from Acampada por Palestine – “is never neutral, nor was it in the case of Ukraine, nor was the CRUE (Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities) neutral in its interpretation of the massacre that Israel is committing. against the Palestinian people.”
Finally, today, June 4, a delegation from the Acampada went to the Rectorate building, carrying banners with terrible images of the genocide in Palestine along with the legend ‘Neutral position’, in allusion to the statements of yesterday from the vice-rector of Students.
