McGill dismantles pro-Palestinian encampment, calls it ‘focal point for intimidation’

Article content

McGill University announced Wednesday morning that its downtown campus is closed as it proceeds with the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian encampment that has been set up on the grounds since April 27.

A private security firm hired by the university read an eviction notice to protesters early Wednesday, according to reports. Protesters, who used social media to call for support, have been on the campus since April 27.

Article content

Montreal police on bicycles and on foot were deployed by the Roddick Gates.

The university said it was proceeding with the dismantling because the encampment represented “profound health and safety risks that continue to grow in scope and severity” and contended that the university had been “subject to ongoing and escalating acts of violence and vandalism associated with the encampment, up to and including criminal acts on campus last weekend.”

McGill president Deep Saini said in a statement that the dismantling of the encampment was taking place “in close collaboration with the city of Montreal and police … (and) the engagement of a qualified security firm.”

Saini repeated the university’s position that it supported “the right to free expression and assembly, within the bounds of the laws and policies that keep us all safe.”

“However, recent events go far beyond peaceful protest and have inhibited the respectful exchange of views and ideas that is so essential to the university’s mission and to our sense of community.”

Saini accused “people linked to the camp” of having “harassed our community members, engaged in antisemitic intimidation, damaged and destroyed McGill property, forcefully occupied a building, clashed with police and committed acts of assault.

Article content

Article content

All 6 Photos for Gallery

Function Not Available

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

OK

Article content

“They also hosted a ‘revolutionary youth summer program’ advertised with images of masked individuals holding assault rifles. The risks emanating from the camp have been escalating, steadily and dangerously.”

Saini said the university was acting because city of Montreal fire inspectors “had long been denied access to the camp. Given the growing risks and the impossibility of knowing what was happening inside, the university engaged a firm to investigate the activities within the encampment. What they found led the university to determine that the need for the camp’s dismantlement was urgent.”

The university president claims few people from the McGill community are in the encampment, saying most protesters are activists from external groups and that unhoused people are also using the camp. He claimed there has been drug use and said the camp is infested with rats.

“This camp was not a peaceful protest,” Saini wrote. “It was a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organized largely by individuals who are not part of our university community.”

Article content

Wednesday’s dismantling operation comes less than 12 hours after about a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a meeting of the Ville-Marie borough council. Mayor Valérie Plante and her fellow councillors were taken out of the meeting as a precaution. There were no arrests reported in connection with that incident.

The encampment was set up April 27 as protesters called upon the university to end its investments in businesses that profited from Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip as well as end all affiliations with Israeli universities.

Two attempts to obtain injunctions forcing the dismantling of the encampment were rejected by Quebec Superior Court.

On June 6, protesters entered the James Administration building at the downtown campus and Montreal police made 15 arrests.

Other protest encampments in Quebec were dismantled after agreements were reached with the universities involved. Last week, a protest encampment erected on public property in Victoria Square was dismantled by Montreal police.

This story will be updated.

Article content

Article content