Montreal
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters are facing off at McGill’s downtown Montreal campus, with police officers in riot gear standing nearby to keep the two sides away from each other.
Quebec premier weighs in, says police should dismantle encampment
A group of pro-Israel protesters have set up outside the Roddick Gates at the entrance of McGill University’s downtown Montreal campus, steps away from the pro-Palestinian encampment that has been in place for six days. Montreal police officers are standing between both groups. (Verity Stevenson/CBC)A pro-Israel counter-protest in response to the student-led encampment at McGill University’s downtown Montreal campus is underway alongside a heightened police presence strategically positioned to keep the two sides away from each other.
The counter-protest began around noon. Montreal police officers on bicycles, dressed in riot gear, are blocking each side of the Roddick Gates at the campus entrance.
The encampment, which has now been in place for six days, calls for the university’s divestment from companies that have business ties with Israel. The encampment is one of many protests taking place on university campuses across North America that are in response to the growing death toll in the Gaza Strip.
Since Israel launched its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave last October, more than 34,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Israel’s ongoing operation is in response to a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel which killed about 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Pro-Israel protesters put up signs of some of the hostages captured during Hamas’s attack on Israel last October. (Ivanoh Demers/CBC)The two protests appeared to try and drown each other out, with chanting and drumming on the encampment side and loud, upbeat music from the pro-Israel side.
The pro-Israel protesters showed up to McGill’s campus waving Israeli flags and holding signs saying “Release the hostages” and “Bring them home now.”
They played music in Hebrew and set up a large screen in front of the campus, where they played interviews from women who said they had experienced sexual violence at the hands of Hamas.
Jamie Fabian, a McGill law student, spoke to the crowd of pro-Israel protesters, saying the use of the word “intifada” by encampment protesters was a call for violence.
“We don’t use violence when faced with violence,” Fabian told the crowd. “Jewish people are indigenous to Israel. For us, it’s not a question of politics, but a question of the survival of our people.”
On several occasions in recent days, Montreal police have described the encampment protest as peaceful. However, McGill has said it is investigating a video that it says shows “unequivocally antisemitic” behaviour.
Just before noon Thursday, pro-Palestinian protesters lined up along the fence surrounding their encampment, chanting: “Why are you in riot gear? There is no violence here.”
Niall Clapham Ricardo, a Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) student who is part of the group Independent Jewish Voices, has been stopping by the encampment on a daily basis to show support.
Given the pro-Israel protest that took place Thursday, Niall Clapham Ricardo, a UQAM student who is part of the group Independent Jewish Voices, said it was important to stop by and show support for people in the encampment. (Verity Stevenson/CBC)”There’s not going to be no confrontation on our side. We are here just to show that we have the right to be here. We have the right to be heard, and the students have the right to call for the divestment of the universities,” said Ricardo.
“We’re going to keep on fighting until Palestine is free and until the genocide stops in Gaza.”
For several days, McGill has been attempting to pressure protesters into dismantling the encampment. Earlier this week, the university requested “police assistance” and lent its name to a provisional court injunction request to force them to leave.
Many people at Thursday’s protest were draped in Israeli flags. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)On Wednesday, that request was rejected by Quebec Superior Court Justice Chantal Masse, who said the plaintiffs — two McGill students — failed to show that the encampment caused them irreparable harm.
In her ruling, Masse wrote that if the injunction request were granted and protesters were removed, their “freedom of expression and to gather peacefully would be affected significantly.”
Montreal police officers monitor protesters during the sixth day of the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University’s downtown campus. (Verity Stevenson/CBC)Take down encampment, premier saysSpeaking to reporters at the National Assembly, Quebec Premier François Legault said Thursday that the encampment must be taken down.
“It’s an illegal encampment,” Legault said, echoing words that were used by the judge that ruled against the provisional injunction request.
“The law must be respected so I expect police to dismantle these encampments.”
Protesters inside the encampment chanted: ‘Why are you in riot gear? There is no violence here’ in response to the heightened police presence around the campus ahead of a planned pro-Israel counter-protest. (Verity Stevenson/CBC)The premier’s words appear to have resonated with some of the pro-Israel protesters who showed up to McGill on Thursday.
Rabbi Reuben Poupko, who addressed the crowd, also called for police to dismantle the encampment.
“I’m not the only one who said it. The premier of Quebec said it,” he said.
WATCH | How Thursday’s protests are unfolding at McGill:
Pro-Israel counter-protest happening at McGill near pro-Palestinian encampmentCBC’s Alison Northcott, reporting from McGill University early Thursday afternoon, says police are in place between pro-Palestinian protesters who have been encamped at the Montreal school and a group of demonstrators who support Israel.
This week, CBC’s Cross Country Checkup wants to know: Are protests an effective way to spark change? How are you resolving disputes in your own life around the Israel-Hamas conflict? Fill out the details on this form and have your say. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Verity Stevenson is a reporter with CBC in Montreal. She has previously worked for the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star in Toronto, and the Telegraph-Journal in Saint John.
