Lawyers for Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) were in court Friday for a hearing on an injunction request against pro-Palestinian protesters, after the group set up an encampment on campus nearly two weeks ago.
The court hearing began on Friday morning at the Montreal courthouse.
UQAM is asking the Quebec Superior Court to prohibit protesters from setting up tents and other material within three metres of campus buildings.
It also wants protesters stop allegedly obstructing access to its campus, damaging surveillance cameras, engaging in vandalism and destroying university property.
In court, UQAM lawyers said they don’t want to stop the protest or encampment, they just want to ensure the security of everyone, free movement on the campus and the buildings, as well as the unblocking of security cameras.
“For more than a week, the University has reiterated to the occupants of the encampment that it is essential for the community to have full access to the pavilions of the Science Complex and to be able to circulate freely. The importance of ensuring a safe environment for all, including the occupants of the camp, was also reiterated,” said the university in a press release on Thursday.
The university claims the camp is not only made up of UQAM students, but other people or groups who have installed themselves there.
On Friday in court, one of the supporters of the encampment, William Sloan, part of Palestinian and Jewish Unity, said his group helped the encampment and on Thursday night during an assembly, encampment participants decided to allow free movement on the campus and to buildings.
The group SolidaritePalestine à l’UQAM (SDHPP) responded to the injunction request by writing, “Come to the camp to support us or come to the court hearing this Friday at 9 a.m.” Adding, “United we stand.”
Since the encampment started on May 12, protesters have demanded that the university cut ties with Israeli institutions and disclose its links to Israel, and that the Quebec government cancel plans for a diplomatic office in the country.
A pro-Palestinian encampment, similar to the one at McGill University and other North American campuses, was being erected at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) on May 12, 2024. (Credit: Solidarité pour les droits humains des Palestiniennes et Palestiniens/Facebook)
The university’s court application says the inner courtyard of the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex is being occupied by about 40 tents.
UQAM says protesters are posing a safety risk by blocking an emergency exit, being in possession of gasoline canisters and iron bars, and potentially “overloading” the university’s electrical network with unauthorized extension cords.
‘We are open to examining with our students’ other avenues that could be consensual, for example welcoming Palestinian academics affected by the conflict, as part of the Scholars at Risk network that UQAM joined in 2017,” said UQAM rector Stéphane Pallage.
UQAM has previously said that its “Foundation has no investment in armaments, having adopted a responsible investment policy many years ago, and that the University does not currently have a mobility agreement nor framework agreement with Israeli universities.”
Earlier this week, Montreal police (SPVM) armed with riot shields and batons clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters at the UQAM encampment Sunday afternoon.
The SPVM says police began dispersing protesters around 3:30 p.m. after they allegedly constructed a barricade on President Kennedy Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard – between Jeanne Mance Street and St. Urbain Street.
According to the police’s version of events, some protesters “rushed towards the police officers” and assaulted them with “a variety of objects.”
However, organizers of the protest claimed that officers attacked demonstrators “without warning or notice of dispersal.”
“Several people were injured, including head injuries (falls and truncheon blows), facial injuries (tear gas grenades to the head and truncheon blows), minor wounds and contusions (truncheon blows and dispersal grenades),” the group wrote in an Instagram post.
Videos shared to social media confirm police batons were used on protesters.
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, and taking some 250 others hostage. More than 35,000 Palestinians have died in the subsequent military operation in Gaza.
-with files from La Press Canadienne