(Montreal) The Superior Court of Quebec has issued an order temporarily preventing a student association at McGill University from moving forward with a pro-Palestinian policy, approved in a recent referendum.
The order states that the McGill University Student Association (MSSA) has agreed not to ratify or implement its Policy Against Genocide in Palestine until the matter returns to court in March.
McGill students voted 78.7% this month in favor of the policy, which calls on the school’s administration to condemn what it calls a “genocidal bombing campaign” in the Gaza Strip and to cut ties with “any company, institution or individual complicit in genocide, colonialism, apartheid or ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians”.
The policy was part of a series of measures included in the student association’s fall referendum that ended Monday, with a 35.1 percent turnout.
An anonymous Jewish McGill student went to court to challenge the policy, which she called in court documents “hate literature” that violates the student association’s constitution as well as its policies on anti-Semitism and of fairness.
The documents say the student asked to remain anonymous because she received threats on social media for speaking out against the policy. “The atmosphere on the McGill campus became tense and frightening for Jewish students,” court documents state.
“As a Jewish student, the complainant fears for her personal safety at McGill University,” we can also read.
The plaintiff wants the policy permanently canceled and is seeking $125,000 in damages. His lawyer clarified in a telephone interview that the request for damages would be heard at a later date.
The McGill University Student Association said in a written statement that it agreed to suspend ratification of the policy, but planned to fight the attempt to have it permanently removed.
Lawyer Rémi Bourget indicated that the student group also plans to challenge the complainant’s request for anonymity.
Defend Jewish Students
Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada applauded the court order, but called on McGill University to do more to defend its Jewish students and hold the student association accountable.
“It is sad that a student had to go to court to seek justice on this issue, because the university has repeatedly failed to hold its student organizations accountable for violating their own rules,” said her president and CEO, Michael Mostyn, in a press release.
“Of course, we welcome the court’s decision to suspend the referendum until a final decision can be made, but McGill does not need to wait until then to make the right decision,” he said. -he adds.
McGill University said in a statement that it believed the proposed policy, if adopted, would “deepen divisions in our community at a time when many students are already distressed.”
School administrators also believe that adopting this policy would put the student association in violation of its own constitution – which includes acting in the best interests of its members as a whole – and its memorandum of understanding with the McGill University.
“We wrote to the president of (the association) to explain to him the consequences of adopting this policy,” said the institution, without providing further details.
The court order comes amid ongoing tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas, which began after militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel on October 7. Israel launched a retaliatory campaign that Gaza health authorities say has cost more than 12,700 lives.