A pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University’s downtown Montreal campus faces increasing pressure to leave as university officials have requested police assistance and a spring storm has turned the lawn to mud.
But protesters say they’re staying put until the university divests from companies with business interests in Israel.
Tuesday afternoon, the fourth day of the encampment, police motorcycles stood nearby and an injunction request from two students asking a judge to prevent groups from protesting near McGill buildings wound its way through Quebec Superior Court.
“In rain or shine, we will stand up for Palestine,” the protesters chanted. They handed out ponchos and umbrellas and set up tarps to protect the camp from the driving rain that swept through Montreal on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier Tuesday, Deep Saini, the president of McGill University, said in a statement sent to McGill students and staff that the university was resorting to calling in police assistance because officials “failed to reach a resolution” with protesters.
“Encampments on campus property are outside of protected parameters, especially when they’re presented as indefinite in term, and when many participants are not members of our university community,” the statement reads.
Carl Bystram, one of the protesters, said McGill should spend more time listening to the students.
“I think it’s quite disgraceful of McGill to be calling the police on this encampment,” he said. “I think it’s a horrible strategy and they should be more open to negotiations with students.”
Saini says the university has been in contact with the police since the onset of the encampment.
“Having to resort to police authority is a gut-wrenching decision for any university president,” Saini said. “It is, by no means, a decision that I take lightly or quickly. In the present circumstances, however, I judged it necessary.”
Meanwhile, lawyer Neil Oberman, who represents McGill students Gabriel Medvedovsky and Raihaana Adira, is asking a judge for a provisional injunction against the encampment on Tuesday afternoon.
The injunction request, which is being argued at the Montreal courthouse Tuesday afternoon, will target groups currently protesting on campus, according to Oberman. McGill University is named as an interested party in the case.
A hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. had to be pushed back and moved to a larger courtroom because too many people wanted to attend.
The plaintiffs are calling for five pro-Palestinian groups to be prevented from taking protest actions within 100 metres of McGill property.
In the document, they accuse Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights Concordia, Montreal4Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement and Alliance4Palestine.QC of “wilfully and knowingly” pursuing “hostile activities under the guise of anonymity.”
CBC’s Rowan Kennedy reports from McGill University, where a group of pro-Palestinian protesters have set up an encampment. The university has requested police assistance after it ‘failed to reach a resolution’ with the group on Monday.
The plaintiffs allege the groups have “created an environment of hate on campus,” which they say has made them uncomfortable to attend classes and exams. They also allege they have faced harassment and intimidation from the defendants.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
On Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for Montreal police said “no crime is being committed” at the encampment and the situation is a civil matter. The spokesperson said officers will continue to monitor the demonstration and are ready to enforce a court injunction if it is granted.