Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the encampment on the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) grounds will no longer be able to do what they want, a Quebec judge ruled on Monday, granting, in part, the university’s request for a provisional injunction.
Last Friday, Superior Court Judge Louis-Joseph Gouin heard the arguments of both parties involved during a hearing held at the Montreal courthouse, as UQAM asked the judge to prohibit protesters from setting up tents and other material within three meters of campus buildings. It also asked for protesters to stop obstructing access to its campus, damaging surveillance cameras, engaging in vandalism and destroying university property.
On Monday, Gouin ruled: “there is definitely an urgent need to clearly circumscribe and generally regulate the exercise of the right to freedom of expression of the Defendants, including that of demonstrating peacefully and safely. It is definitely preferable to intervene before an unfortunate event only happens afterwards.”
Since May 12, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been camping in the area of the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex at UQAM, following in the footsteps of other similar gatherings that have taken place on campuses elsewhere in Canada and the United States.
Effective until June 6, Gouin ordered the encampment to move two meters from buildings surrounding the buildings of the courtyard, and to clear all doors and windows, and all exterior walls of any objects or material placed there and to refrain from installing more in the future, to ensure the space is accessible at all times.
The judge also ordered the protesters to remove the cardboard obstructing the security cameras in the area and never to obstruct them again. Also, to allow the fire department and representatives of UQAM to visit the encampment to check the security of the area.
Camp participants demand that UQAM sever its ties with Israeli institutions and reveal the extent of these relationships. They also ask the Quebec government to reverse course regarding the opening of the Quebec Office in Tel Aviv.
For its part, UQAM assures that its foundation has “no investment in armaments,” and that it neither has “a mobility agreement nor a framework agreement with Israeli universities.”
In its request for an injunction, UQAM did not ask for the complete dismantling of the camp, but rather is looking for markers to ensure free movement in the Science Complex sector.
In a press release, the management noted that “access and emergency exits from the University buildings are still obstructed, that several exterior protection cameras are obstructed, and that the situation on the camp and near it has generally deteriorated.
“It is increasingly barricaded, certain materials that have been accumulated there present risks, surfaces of certain pavilions have been vandalized, notably by several graffiti, and hooded groups circulate there night and day,” they said.
Two requests for an injunction concerning the pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of McGill University have been rejected in recent weeks due to a lack of urgency and demonstration of irreparable harm.
-With files from The Canadian Press