A judge intends to grant the request for an injunction from the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), but “not as is,” he said Friday morning. The Superior Court heard the university’s request to partially dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up on its campus.
“I would be surprised to completely reject the provisional injunction without doing anything else,” said Judge Louis-Joseph Gouin, who intends to deliver his final judgment no later than Monday morning.
At the Montreal courthouse, the judge expressed the wish that UQAM and the pro-Palestinian demonstrators agree on a “code of life” in order to ensure security on the university campus, where the encampment is established since mid-May. “I will not grant it as it is,” said the judge, regarding the request for an injunction.
With this request, UQAM is attempting to partially dismantle the pro-Palestinian camp installed on the lawn of the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex. She must prove the urgency of acting in order to obtain a provisional interlocutory injunction, which would last ten days, if granted.
The University expressed concern about the management of the camp in court. “UQAM is ready to tolerate the presence of occupants, but as long as we do not hinder free movement, access and exit from buildings, and we do not endanger the security of its premises and its occupants,” pleaded Friday morning Me Martin Côté, who represents the University. According to the establishment, the situation is such that there is an urgent need to act.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Aerial view of the pro-Palestinian encampment at the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex at UQAM
Me Max Silverman, who represents the camp, affirmed that the fears expressed by UQAM were “only suppositions”. According to the lawyer, the demonstrators “created emergency exits in accordance with the instructions of the Service [de sécurité] Montreal fire” on May 20, and security measures were taken at the camp, where a “spirit of collaboration and listening” reigns.
Question of perimeter
According to UQAM, the encampment, called “Al-Aqsa Popular University”, infringes on its property rights. “The situation has only intensified […]we saw the perimeter of the camp [s’agrandir] over the last few days,” added Me Martin Cote.
The judge said he was “very sensitive” to the idea of creating a security perimeter around the camp, which is currently enclosed in an interior courtyard on the campus. “It seems to me that freeing up three meters along the buildings is safe for everyone,” he said.
However, imposing such a security corridor would put the camp in danger, according to Me Max Silverman, who represents the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who pitched their tents on the UQAM campus. “This is in effect dismantling the encampment, or at least making it very vulnerable,” he argued, adding that reducing the encampment would expose it “to counter-demonstrations from the extreme right.”
Me Émilie E. Joly, who represents the Union of UQAM Professors and Teachers (SPPEUQAM), pleaded in support of the campers. The union fears that a partial dismantling of the encampment would restrict the demonstrators’ freedom of expression.
If we want to guarantee freedom of expression and the right to peaceful association, conditions must allow it.
Me Émilie E. Joly, lawyer for SPPEUQAM
“The emergency seems very meager to us,” added the lawyer, describing the camp as a “calm, serene” place.
McGill campers react
Meanwhile, students at the Palestine solidarity encampment at McGill University are responding to arguments made by university president Deep Saini in a letter published earlier this week in The Press.
The latter deplored that the campers “continue to avoid serious exchanges”, which the latter refute.
To claim that McGill participates in good faith in discussions with students would be fiction. Moreover, the rector never deigned to appear at the negotiation sessions. The possible solutions offered by McGill so far do not address our concerns in any meaningful way.
Excerpt from the letter
To the rector, who described the camp as an “illegal occupation”, the students reminded that “no hateful or violent gesture was committed by the campers and McGill was not able to produce convincing evidence to support its accusations of anti-Semitism in court.
“We exercise our rights and freedoms in a legitimate manner, universities having historically served as gathering places to denounce humanitarian crises, such as the one taking place in Palestine,” they add in their missive.
Read the letter from McGill campers
With Vincent Larin and Henri Ouellette-Vézina, The Press