A dozen McGill students stage a hunger strike to demand that the University divest from Israeli institutions and companies and boycott them. However, a striker had to break her fast after being hospitalized on Saturday at her 34e day without eating.
McGill student Rania Amine went to the hospital Saturday to receive intravenous fluids to treat dehydration caused by her hunger strike. “I felt dizzy and very nauseous. »
In the middle of treatment, she lost consciousness, she says. Health personnel recommended that she remain hospitalized while she regained her strength. “It was time for me to stop, because my health was in danger. I had reached the limit for my body,” confides the young woman from her hospital bed.
Rania Amine began the hunger strike on February 19, alongside a dozen students. “We decided that it was time to do something more extreme, because things are not moving forward,” comments the woman who made do with water, broth and electrolytes during her fast.
The student group is calling on McGill to divest from Israeli companies and cut ties with Israeli institutions.
This kind of behavior has no place in schools. It makes no sense that a university has ties to companies that are actively killing Palestinians.
Rania Amine, McGill student on hunger strike
“We respect the right of the student population to pursue political objectives and to express their beliefs in this regard. However, we ask her to do so using means that will prioritize their health,” he said by email to The Press the McGill University Media Relations Department.
” It was very difficult “
The hunger strike was quite a challenge for the student. ” It was very difficult. I was very tired every day. Doing anything besides being in my bed was difficult. It affected my ability to concentrate and function. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RANIA AMINE
Students during a sit-ins at McGill University
She still continued to go to the university to participate in mobilization activities such as sit-ins in front of the administration offices.
His colleagues who participate in the hunger strike generally do so intermittently, with fasting periods of three to five days. Student Chadi, who does not mention his last name, is now the only one continuing the hunger strike continuously. He is on his 23e day.
” I am very tired. I have chronic illnesses and going on hunger strike hurts. When I walk, I have a lot of pain in my bones and muscles. » Saturday evening, he tried to fall asleep, in vain. “My heart was beating fast and I was so disoriented. I’ve gotten to the point where it’s very hard to function. »
He still plans to continue the hunger strike as long as their demands are not listened to. “We have reached a point where we cannot sit here and do nothing. »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
McGill University
A public meeting requested
McGill University claims to have offered a meeting to the group of students on more than one occasion. “The students refused the meeting in the form in which it was proposed,” maintains the establishment.
“We wanted a meeting open to the public with a delay of a few days so that people could introduce themselves. For a long time, the University only offered us private meetings,” says student Chadi.
He maintains that the establishment offered them a public meeting at the beginning of March. “A few hours later, before we could even agree to this meeting, they proposed a private meeting for only eight people. » An offer that they would have declined.
An open letter to urge the University to listen to the hunger strikers and implement their demands has so far garnered more than 1,200 signatures, including alumni, faculty and staff.
“We wanted to show that they are not alone in going on hunger strike and that there is an entire McGill community supporting them and to illustrate how urgent this situation is,” says Guido Powell, former McGill student who collaborated on the open letter with the organization Montréal Families for Palestine.
“We are aware that the situation is extremely difficult. This issue is a daily concern for us, as is the health and safety of our student body,” the University declared.
Request for injunction against a student association
In November, a Jewish student filed for an injunction to prevent the McGill University Student Association from adopting a “policy against genocide in Palestine.” Voted during an assembly, it asks the establishment to sever its ties with companies and institutions “complicit in settler colonialism, apartheid or ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians”. In his request for an injunction, the student argues that the policy “encourages, promotes and condones anti-Semitism.” Both parties will be heard Monday before the Superior Court of Quebec.
Léa Carrier, The Press