A judge is expected to render a decision Wednesday morning on whether the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University can stay or not.
This comes after two students from the university filed a court injunction Tuesday in an attempt to limit where protesters can go on campus.
The plaintiffs argued the encampment on the school’s lower field has created a “dangerous, hostile, aggressive and violent environment.”
“There are Canadian values, there are Quebec values, but they are not the values of hate, they are not the values of intimidation, they are not the values of harassment,” said lawyer Neil Oberman. “No Canadian, no Québécois will tolerate that or accept it and neither should the court.”
The plaintiffs are seeking an immediate end to protests within 100 metres of any McGill University building to ensure students can access the facilities.
A lawyer representing the school notes officials are staying neutral regarding the injunction request.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the Students Society of McGill University (SSMU) argues that blocking free speech in such a large area of downtown Montreal is wrong.
“It’s abusive because basically what it’s asking for is to block out a big part of downtown to all protests, so peaceful protests, protests of any kind,” said Sibel Ataogul, the lawyer representing the SSMU. “For us, that’s an egregious violation of the fundamental freedoms that we enjoy in Canada and in Quebec and in Montreal.”
Demonstrators started camping out on the school’s grounds last weekend to demand the university divest from funds they claim are connected to Israel.
They say they want McGill to divest from Israeli companies it says are “complicit in the occupation of Palestine.”
They say they also want the school to cut academic ties with Israeli institutions and denounce Israel’s offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive has led to more than 34,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the local health ministry.
The encampment in Montreal is one of a wave of similar protests across university campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
McGill University students are currently in exam season.