Live updates: Protesters gather at McGill as Legault calls for police to take down pro-Palestinian camp

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Updated throughout the day on Thursday, May 2. Questions/comments: ariga@postmedia.com

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• ‘I’m here to support Israel,’ counter-protester says
• Video: Police move in to separate two sides
• Jewish protesters among supporters of the pro-Palestinian camp
• Ultra-Orthodox Jews join pro-Palestinian protest
• ‘I genuinely do not think I would be safe,’ Jewish student says
• Legault calls for dismantling of McGill encampment
• Police presence ramps up at encampment ahead of counter-protest
• McGill Jewish groups plan counter-protest
• Superior Court judge rejects request for an injunction
• Photos: Pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill, Day 5
• Protesters are demanding McGill divest. What does that mean?
• Students set up pro-Palestinian encampment protest at University of Toronto
• Biden says ’order must prevail’ during campus protests over Gaza

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12:25 p.m.

‘I’m here to support Israel,’ counter-protester says

Ted Schiffer, a McGill law graduate and Hampstead resident, said he joined the counter-protest outside McGill to warn the administration of his alma mater that if it tolerates this encampment, others will follow.

“I’m here to support Israel, I’m here to support my country and Jews,” he said. “I don’t care if they have a camp there. They can say whatever they want. Sticks and stones, freedom of expression and all that.”

He added: “What this is about is I’m a McGill graduate and I look at the lawn in front of my school and it looks like a shanty town. So tomorrow there will be a camp over there because they don’t like (Bill) 96. And over there there will be a camp because they don’t like unisex bathrooms, and over here an encampment because the Canadiens drafted the wrong guy. There will be camps everywhere because everyone thinks protest camps on McGill campus is a great idea.”

12:15 p.m.

Video: Police move in to separate two sides

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12:15 p.m.

Jewish protesters among supporters of the pro-Palestinian camp

From colleague Jacob Serebin, who is among our team at McGill today:

The number of pro-Palestinian protesters is growing.

They’ve begun chanting and have formed a line around the camp.

A small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews who have shown up. They oppose the creation of Israel on religious grounds and are upset that pro-Israel groups suggest that all Jews are pro-Israel.

A line of pro-Palestinian protesters in front of the encampment includes several people wearing kippahs. An organizer with a megaphone says they’re Jewish and here to protect the camp.

12:15 p.m.

‘I genuinely do not think I would be safe,’ Jewish student says

From colleague Michelle Lalonde, who is among our team at McGill today:

Drew, a Concordia student standing just outside McGill’s closed front gates, said he joined the counter-protest to call on McGill to end the encampment.

“If I were to walk through this campus right now with my kippah, I don’t think I would be safe,” he said. “I genuinely do not think I would be safe, not because I have some views that are different, but because I’m Jewish.”

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He added that although he attends Concordia, he regularly attends Shabbat at McGill campus to pray, as do other Jewish students at Concordia.

12:10 p.m.

Legault calls for dismantling of McGill encampment

Premier François Legault says police should move in and dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University.

Speaking to reporters in Quebec City this morning, he said the protest — in place since Saturday — is illegal. Legault said he will leave it up to police to decide when and how to proceed.

“Everybody in Quebec has to respect laws, and right now these encampments are illegal,” he said. “We have to respect the law. And I want to make sure that the police officers ensure the laws are respected.”

On Wednesday, a Quebec Superior Court judge rejected a request from two McGill students who sought to have the protesters at the encampment from being within 100 metres of any of the school’s buildings.

However, “if you read the decision they say clearly that (the encampment is) illegal,” Legault said.

He added: “We’re all worried about what’s happening in Gaza. People can show their (position) in demonstrations — these are allowed, these are legal. But they cannot have encampments on a university site.”

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Noon

Police presence ramps up at encampment ahead of counter-protest

As the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University’s downtown campus entered its sixth day Thursday, there was a visible police presence ahead of a planned counter-protest by pro-Israel groups.

More than a dozen officers were on the McGill campus shortly after 8:30 a.m., along with other police vehicles parked nearby.

Police have generally kept a low profile around the camp, usually with a single vehicle parked across the street.

Read our full story by Jacob Serebin.

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Noon

McGill Jewish groups plan counter-protest

Several Jewish organizations are planning a counter-protest at McGill University Thursday, demanding the university “enforce its policies and stand against Jew-hatred on campus.”

The event is to be held at 12:30 p.m. at the Roddick Gates on Sherbrooke St., beside the pro-Palestinian encampment that has been in place since Saturday.

Read our full story.

Noon

Superior Court judge rejects request for an injunction

A Quebec Superior Court judge has rejected a request from two McGill University students who sought to have the protesters at the pro-Palestinian encampment set up over the weekend barred from being within 100 metres of any of the school’s buildings.

Justice Chantal Masse heard arguments on the matter Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse and she delivered her decision in writing on Wednesday. In the 10-page decision, she said there “was not a sufficient demonstration of urgency” in the request. She also noted that defence lawyers who opposed the request argued it was “abusive and sought to silence all discussion that doesn’t fit within a frame that is pro-Israeli.”

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Read our full story by Paul Cherry.

Noon

Photos: Pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill, Day 6

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Read our full story.

Noon

Protesters demand McGill divest from companies linked to Israel. What does that mean?

Among the main demands of protesters at the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University is that the school divest from companies they say are supporting Israel’s war against Hamas. It’s a request that has long been called for by student unions at many universities and has seen a recent resurgence as demonstrators stage protests at schools across North America.

Read our full story by René Bruemmer.

Noon

Students set up pro-Palestinian encampment protest at University of Toronto

From The Canadian Press:

TORONTO — A group of students at the University of Toronto say they have started a protest on campus to call on the university to cut its ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.

The students say in a statement that they breached a newly installed fence around an area on campus known as King’s College Circle to establish an encampment in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

They say they are joining students at other universities in the United States and Canada in setting up encampments to call on their schools to disclose their ties with the Israeli government and divest from Israeli companies.

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Several tents could be seen set up at the centre of King’s College Circle at the University of Toronto this morning, with a few police cars and private security vehicles seen parked nearby.

Pro-Palestinian activists have pitched their tents on campuses across the country in recent days, including encampments at McGill University in Montreal, the University of Ottawa, Western University in London, Ont., and the University of British Columbia.

Noon

Biden says ’order must prevail’ during campus protests over Gaza

From The Associated Press:

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right to protest but insisted that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face unrest over the war in Gaza.

“Dissent is essential for democracy,” he said at the White House. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.”

The Democratic president also said the protests have not caused him to reconsider his approach to the war. Biden has occasionally criticized Israel’s conduct but continued to supply it with weapons.

Biden said the campus protests haven’t prompted him to rethink his Middle East policies, and he opposes sending in National Guard.

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Republicans have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel against Democrats.

Tension at colleges and universities has been building for days as some demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to law enforcement to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized attention from politicians and the media.

But Biden’s last public comment came more than a week ago, when he condemned “antisemitic protests” and “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, has gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is “monitoring the situation closely,” and she said some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

“Forcibly taking over a building,” such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, “is not peaceful,” she said. “It’s just not.”

Biden has never been much for protesting. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and he’s always espoused the political importance of compromise over zealousness.

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As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden was in law school at Syracuse University.

“I’m not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts,” he said years later. “You know, that’s not me.″

Despite the White House’s criticism and Biden’s refusal to heed protesters’ demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences.

“We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say this is wrong,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Tuesday. “What’s happening on college campuses right now is wrong.”

Johnson visited Columbia with other members of his caucus last week. House Republicans sparred with protesters while speaking to the media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump, his party’s presumptive nominee, also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

“Biden has to do something,” he said. “Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and it’s certainly not much of a voice. It’s a voice that nobody’s heard.”

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He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

“The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you possibly noticed,” Trump said. “And Biden’s nowhere to be found. He hasn’t said anything.”

Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Biden’s campaign in 2020, said Republicans already tried the same tactic four years ago during protests over George Floyd’s murder by a police officer.

“People rejected that,” she said. “They saw that it was just fearmongering. They saw that it wasn’t based in reality.”

Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to directly engage on the issue.

Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.

Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said “universities and colleges make their own decisions” and “we’re not going to weigh in from here.”

Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said “that’s up to the colleges and universities.”

When quizzed about administrators rescheduling graduation ceremonies, she said “that is a decision that they have to decide” and “that is on them.”

Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when he’s scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta.

ariga@postmedia.com

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