Students and supporters have been encamped on McGill University campus for five days at time of writing and say they will not be removed unless by police force.
McGill is one of several universities across Canada and the US where students are protesting the violence being perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians.
On October 7, 2023, the Hamas terrorist group attacked Israeli civilians and took over 100 hostages. In response, since October of last year, the Israeli military has been exacting a campaign of retribution against the Palestinian people in Gaza, killing 40,000 civilians, mostly women and children.
Over the weekend, students from Montreal’s two English language universities, McGill and Concordia, set up an encampment on McGill’s main campus in the city’s downtown to protest the violence in Gaza and their universities’1 support of the Israeli government.
A member of the McGill student group, Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) was at the encampment on the night of Tuesday, April 30 and spoke with rabble.ca on condition of anonymity. rabble has agreed to protect this student’s identity out of fear of reprisals.
The SPHR representative said that hundreds of people remained at the encampment on campus, and that they had no plans on leaving until the university heeds their demands, which includes divestment from companies that support Israel.
They also said that they were not intimidated either by the threat of police intervention, or of a recent injunction filed by students calling for the encampments to be removed:
“All of these communications and these intimidation tactics, the threats of police intervention, even the recent injunction are just a distraction from the real reason why we’re here, which is, because there’s an ongoing genocide, that is being perpetrated with impunity by the Zionist regime (of Israel). Our universities, McGill and Concordia are both complicit in that genocide and, occupation.”
Quebec judge rejects request to remove encampment
On Wednesday, May 1, a Quebec Superior Court Judge rejected the injunction filed by two students calling for a ban on all protests within 100 meters of McGill buildings.
READ MORE: Student democracies face external interference over support for Palestine
“The court is of the opinion that the balance of inconveniences leans more toward the protesters, whose freedom of expression and to gather peacefully would be affected significantly,” reads part of the ruling by Justice Chantal Massé.
The injunction had alleged that the encampment had created a so-called “environment of hate on campus” – an allegation that SPHR rejects.
“Our Jewish comrades and allies have been consistently showing up not only to the encampment but to our various organizational efforts for the past six months in support of the student front and in support of the people in Gaza. Of course these are still attempts to conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism to explicitly undermine our organizational efforts,” the SPHR representative said.
Students stand defiant against intimidation
McGill University has asked the Montreal police to come onto campus to clear the encampment, while they have yet to do so, the SPHR representative told rabble.ca that there is a noticeable police presence around campus and their location.
On April 30, police in New York City moved to arrest protesters occupying buildings on Columbia University campus in that city. The protest at Columbia has been going on for more than a week and is among the largest of its kind in North America.
Approximately 300 individuals were arrested on April 30. Students at Columbia have been arrested since the protest began as well as some of the university’s professors.
SPHR is encouraging supporters to come to their encampment to show that they will not be intimidated into silence.
“The community is encouraged to show up to this encampment and show support for the student front,” the SPHR representative said.
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