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Saying the situation at the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment on its property had “shifted significantly,” McGill University announced on Monday morning that it is discussing the “next steps” to deal with the situation.
“The number of individuals who have set up tents on campus has tripled since Saturday. We have become aware that many of them, if not the majority, are not members of the McGill community,” the university said in an email early Monday morning.
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The university also contends that it saw video evidence of “some people using unequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour, which is absolutely unacceptable on our campuses. We condemn this in the strongest possible terms and will act quickly to investigate.”
In its statement the university said that while it supported “the rights of our campus community to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly,” it did so “with the understanding that these must be exercised within the bounds of McGill’s policies as well as the law … We have been clear that these encampments violate both.’
The university said that when it spoke with lawyers representing the students about a timeline for removing the tents, the lawyers replied that the students “have instead indicated that they intended to remain on campus indefinitely.”
The statement with the university saying its “senior leadership team is meeting now to discuss next steps regarding this matter and will provide an update on our decision within short order.”
A Montreal police spokesperson said at 7:20 a.m. Monday that the force was aware of university’s announcement and that officers were monitoring the situation at the encampment, adding that there had been no reports of any problems so far.
This story will be updated.
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