Pro-Palestinian student activists in Montreal set up camp on the grounds of McGill University this weekend, following a wave of similar protests on campuses across the United States.
By Sunday afternoon, more than two dozen tents had been set up on the school’s downtown campus, with a steady stream of visitors stopping by to drop off donations and supplies.
“Ruth,” a McGill student and spokesperson who did not want to give her full name for fear of retaliation from the school or police, said the campers intend to stay indefinitely.
He said student activists at McGill and Concordia universities are demanding that their schools divest and cut ties and funding from Israeli institutions and companies in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
McGill said in a statement dated Saturday night that the students rejected a request to remove their tents, but confirmed that the protest had been peaceful and was limited to the lower field.
The camp spokesperson said the Montreal students have been inspired by the dozens of pro-Palestinian protests that have appeared on campuses across the United States against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas. Critics argue that the protests are anti-Semitic and make Jewish students feel unsafe.
“It’s an incredible movement, and we feel like it’s our time to contribute to that movement and try to refocus all of our energy on Gaza, in the situation that is still costing thousands of lives right now,” Ruth said.
The Associated Press reported that nearly 900 people had been arrested at university protests in the United States since April 18, when New York police dismantled a pro-Palestinian protest camp at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 protesters.
The tensions are tied to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which began after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking approximately 250 hostages. Vowing to end Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza. In the war that followed, Israel killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Health Ministry.
While Montreal police could be seen parked on nearby streets and campus security was present, there were no signs of conflict at McGill on Sunday.
Dozens of supporters cheered and waved Palestinian flags near the camp as a speaker with a megaphone chanted “Reveal. Divest. We will not stop, we will not rest.”
Several young people sat in tents and under tarps to hide from the drizzle at the camp, which was flanked by a large banner reading “Cease Fire!” Someone had written the words “Long live Intifada” and “Free Palestine” in chalk on the school’s entrance doors.
Intifada is an Arabic word with meanings that include shaking off oppression. In English, it is most commonly associated with two periods of particular intensity in the Israel–Palestine conflict, which included a series of attacks by Palestinian terrorist groups on public places within Israel.
In a video posted on social media on Saturday night, MP Anthony Housefather called on McGill to dismantle the camp, with police help if necessary. He said that while people have the right to protest, the encampments violate “virtually all codes of conduct,” including McGill’s.
“I call on the McGill administration publicly, as I have done privately, to ensure that this camp is removed, in accordance with its own rules, as we must ensure that students feel safe accessing to campus for their upcoming final exams,” he said in a video on X.
Meanwhile, the Jewish organization B’nai Brith Canada urged the public to write to provincial higher education ministers to denounce what it called “a horrific normalization of anti-Semitism on university campuses,” including McGill.
Ruth, the student spokesperson, said the campers have not yet faced retaliation from the police or the school, but they are prepared for it to happen.
He said the campers had no intention of leaving and that their numbers had increased since the camp was set up on Saturday.
“We just want to make sure that all eyes are on Gaza, all eyes are on Rafah, all eyes are on Palestine – that’s our fundamental goal,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2024.
— With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa and The Associated Press