Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered Monday in front of McGill University, which had restricted access to its campus on the first anniversary of the war between Israel and Hamas, fearing excesses.
The demonstrators met early in the morning in front of the gates of Concordia University, before marching through the streets of the city center under a strong police presence.
Wearing keffiyehs, they responded to a call launched by the Students for Honor and Resistance of Palestine collective to “flood [les] campus in response to a year of genocide.”
The organization is pushing for universities to sever all financial and academic ties with Israel, whose response to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 left more than 40,000 dead in the Gaza Strip.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The demonstration took place peacefully until the demonstrators arrived at McGill University.
“Until our administrations put an end to the genocidal financing of the occupying army, we will honor every martyr,” they plead.
The demonstration took place peacefully until the demonstrators arrived at McGill University. Bypassing security, some managed to enter the campus, access to which had been restricted in order to avoid excesses. The windows of a building under construction were smashed. Some protesters threw paint and sprayed graffiti in the area, requiring police intervention.
At a press briefing late in the afternoon, the head of the City of Montreal Police Department, Fady Dagher, reported that demonstrators were “playing cat and mouse with the police” on campus.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The head of the City of Montreal Police Department, Fady Dagher, reported that demonstrators were “playing cat and mouse with the police” on the McGill campus.
No arrests were made. “We had four demonstrations during the day, all in all peaceful,” summarized Mr. Dagher.
The increase in numbers and the increased presence at the demonstrations constituted above all preventive measures: the police authorities were not aware of any “planned, organized threat against any establishment in Montreal”.
“There is Gaza to be liberated”
Another pro-Palestinian demonstration was held downtown Monday evening. Hundreds of participants strolled from Place des Arts towards the west, notably via René-Lévesque Boulevard and Crescent and Sainte-Catherine Streets.
The gathered crowd chanted various slogans throughout the evening, ranging from “Israel, get out of there”, to “we are not tired, there is Gaza to liberate”. This gathering, organized by the Montreal4Palestine community, took place peacefully, with the occasional use of colored smoke bombs and rare fireworks.
The police on scene asked the crowd to use the street rather than the sidewalks. “The police are trying to make a mess, let’s prove to them that we are serious and organized,” said an organizer into the microphone, in front of the participants.
Fed up and call for boycott
The demonstrators expressed their fed up with universities which, according to them, “are complicit in the ongoing genocide”.
“We are calling for a boycott, a divestment from arms manufacturers and Israeli universities,” says a student member of the Independent Jewish Voices collective.
Like most of the demonstrators present, she did not want to be identified, for fear of reprisals. A Jew herself, she refutes accusations of anti-Semitism within the pro-Palestinian movement.
Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is a real thing, but not in this movement.
A Jewish pro-Palestinian protester
Further away, activist Samar Alkhdour listened to the speeches. The Palestinian mother, who lost a child last January in Gaza, is accused of having harassed Minister Marc Miller.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The demonstrators expressed their fed up with universities which, according to them, “are complicit in the ongoing genocide”.
That didn’t stop her from coming to show her support to the students on Monday. “Students have defended Palestine from the beginning. I strongly believe that the student movement, and this has been proven throughout history, can have an impact,” she says.
“I think that the death of civilians is never acceptable and that is why we must mobilize for Palestine more than ever,” underlines another demonstrator who studies at the University of Montreal.
If he deplores that the attack of October 7, 2023 caused civilian deaths, “this empathy with variable geometry has a name”. “It’s called racism,” he says behind the red keffiyeh covering his face.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
A pro-Palestinian activist during the demonstration in Montreal
Last week, The Press reported on the tense climate that has reigned on campuses since the start of the school year. At McGill University, the rector is even escorted by a security agent on certain trips.
In addition to having hired additional security guards in recent months, the establishment has announced security measures as October 7 approaches. The majority of courses were given online on Monday, while only students and university employees had access to campus.
On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Montreal to denounce Israel’s war in Gaza. The crowd moved peacefully to the Israeli consulate general, to the beat of drums and slogans.