Tensions briefly rise at McGill during vigil for Israeli hostages
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“We wanted … to show that the hostages being mercilessly kidnapped were not forgotten in Montreal.”
Published Apr 09, 2024 • Last updated 3 minutes ago • 3 minute read
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A vigil calling for the release of Israeli hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas ended in a brief faceoff between pro-Israel supporters and a small group of counter-protesters supporting Palestinians at McGill University on Tuesday.
Campus security interrupted a confrontation between two people on opposite sides who shoved each other as the groups came face to face toward the end of the demonstration, which otherwise unfolded peacefully.
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The vigil began at 11 a.m. with a few dozen McGill students decorated in Israeli flags lining the entrance to the school, just beyond the Roddick Gates, holding posters of the hostages as organizers said prayers and read hostages’ names and ages through microphones.
During the vigil, a small group of people in keffiyeh scarves formed near the Roddick Gates, where a large Palestinian flag was on the ground beside a speaker that was blasting music. The number of both vigil participants and counter-protesters slowly picked up as the event continued, with the latter peeling the Palestinian flag off the ground and holding it up just beyond the entrance to the corridor of people holding hostage posters.
About 240 Israelis were taken hostage and about 1,200 were killed in the Oct. 7 attack. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in counterattacks by Israel in the time since, according to figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
It’s estimated that about 100 Israelis are still being held hostage.
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The event was organized by McGill students representing a coalition of Jewish groups on campus. Organizer Jamie Fabian said the it was held to commemorate the six-month anniversary of the Hamas attack — which was Sunday — when enough students would be on campus.
“We wanted … to show that the hostages being mercilessly kidnapped were not forgotten in Montreal,” he said. “And that the McGill students remember them, and we will bring them home.”
Erica Harroch, a psychology student at McGill, said she participated to support the cause and her people.
“We’re really just here for peaceful reasons; we’re not here to ignite the fire,” she said. “We’re just trying to bring our people home, bring our hostages home.”
Harroch said tension on campus has been rising since Oct. 7.
The vigil happened to coincide with a demonstration by McGill teaching assistants striking for better wages, many of whom wore keffiyeh scarves. Pro-Palestinian protesters were standing near a snack table that had been set up for the TA strike for the duration of the vigil.
Once the vigil itself had ended, participants moved closer to where the counter-protesters were standing and both sides began facing off, but the crowds dispersed within about 15 minutes.
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In a statement late Tuesday afternoon, McGill said it deployed security personnel and “quickly de-escalated the situation.”
“Furthermore, Montreal police were aware of the rally and established a presence off campus,” a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that McGill has been extending care and support to those on campus affected by the Israel-Hamas war.
“McGill’s leadership has issued several calls for compassion, understanding, and respectful and civil discourse to the community,” they said. “We understand and tolerate the expression of divergent viewpoints and the assembly of people to express those views, but where this results in a violation of the rights of others, or of our policies or the law, we will act.”
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