McGill asks police for help as pro-Palestinian protesters dig in on 4th day of encampment
2 students filed injunction request to ban the encampment from university property
Despite rain, mud and the possibility of an injunction at the pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University's downtown campus Tuesday afternoon, protesters say their spirits remain high.
They say they're staying put until the university divests from companies with business interests in Israel.
Some of those camping out overnight spread soil to absorb rain, dug trenches and scooped water with plastic pitchers. Others handed out yellow ponchos and umbrellas to protesters supporting them outside the gates. Dozens of people arrived to set up tarps and bring supplies including rain boots and food to the encampment.
Between chants like "rain or shine, we will stand up for Palestine," protesters blasted Arabic music and danced in the pouring rain.
On the fourth day of the encampment, police motorcycles stood nearby and an injunction request from two students asking a judge to prevent groups from protesting near McGill buildings wound its way through Quebec Superior Court.
Carl Bystram, who works at QPIRG-McGill and is taking part in the protest, said the university should make more efforts to listen to the students.
"It's quite disgraceful of McGill to be calling the police on this encampment," they said. "They should be more open to negotiations with students."
Earlier Tuesday, university president Deep Saini said in a statement sent to students and staff that McGill was resorting to calling for police assistance because officials "failed to reach a resolution" with protesters.
Fabrice Labeau, McGill's vice-provost of student life and learning, spoke to CBC's As It Happens host Nil Köksal Tuesday evening, saying administrators had made several attempts to reach out to the groups protesting.
"The McGill participants in the encampment would refuse to put forward proposals through their legal counsel to us in terms of when they would end the encampment," Labeau said.
"We've seen an increase in the number of tents. We've seen the arrival of large numbers of people from outside the McGill community. And we've also heard the reports of antisemitic rhetoric being used, and this is under investigation on our end."
On Sunday, the university said it was investigating a video published on social media that included what it said were antisemitic remarks.
Tuesday, McGill shared the video with CBC News. The video lists McGill University as its location and includes protesters chanting "all the Zionists are racist, all the Zionists are the terrorists," as well as "go back to Europe."
The video provided to CBC News contains the text "20 Jihadists against one Jewish Israeli student being told to go back to Europe."
CBC News has not independently verified the video's source, nor if the people in the video are part of the encampment. The video is one of 27 included in the injunction request on behalf of the two McGill students.
The encampment is one of dozens at universities across North America. Students at Columbia University in New York, where the first such encampment was established, have occupied a school building after the university threatened to suspend those taking part in the protest.
On Tuesday, the university began suspending students. Those at McGill say they're "prepared to keep each other safe" if police move in on the encampment.
Mara Thompson, an undergraduate student at McGill and a member of Independent Jewish Voices who has been sleeping at the encampment since Saturday, said the camp had established a strict code of conduct for participating protesters with rules banning hateful speech and discrimination.
"We take this very seriously and make sure not to perpetuate antisemitism and Islamophobia," said Thompson, who is Jewish.
"Antisemitism is a real and threatening issue in the world, but conflating it with anti-Zionism, I think, confuses people and risks actually making it harder to recognize antisemitism when it does happen," she added.
Thompson said students from several other Montreal universities were also camping at the protest and that it was never meant to be exclusive to McGill students. She pointed out that there is a long history of students contesting McGill's financial investments, like the anti-apartheid boycott, divest and sanction movement in the 1980s and '90s and, more recently, the push for the university to divest from fossil fuels.
Alanna Thain, a McGill faculty member in the English department, said she was at the encampment on Tuesday to support the students there. She said they weren't preventing access to buildings, and encouraged administrators to come speak to the students directly.
"It's really threatening to call the cops on an encampment that's about conversation, that's about peaceful, non-violent forms of protest," she said.
Injunction decision expected Wednesday
Meanwhile, lawyer Neil Oberman, who represents McGill students Gabriel Medvedovsky and Raihaana Adira, is asking a judge for a provisional injunction against the encampment.
The injunction request was argued at the Montreal courthouse Tuesday afternoon. McGill University is named as an interested party in the case.
The plaintiffs called for five pro-Palestinian groups to be prevented from taking protest actions within 100 metres of McGill property.
Superior Court Justice Chantal Massé said she would make her decision on the injunction request known on Wednesday.
The plaintiffs allege the groups have "created an environment of hate on campus," which they say has made them uncomfortable to attend classes and exams. They also allege they have faced harassment and intimidation from the defendants.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Sarah Shamy, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal, said "this is part of a larger pattern where Zionists have used bureaucratic mechanisms and legal mechanisms to suppress Palestinian activism." She stresses that the protests have remained peaceful.
In a statement, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill said they "organized this encampment under the context of an ongoing six-month-old genocide which has killed over 40,000 Palestinians" and "are planning on staying until our demands are heeded."
On Tuesday morning, a Montreal police spokesperson said "no crime is being committed" at the encampment and the situation is a civil matter. The spokesperson said officers will continue to monitor the demonstration and are ready to enforce a court injunction if it is granted.
Izik Hesselink, a Concordia University student, brought supplies to the McGill encampment Tuesday. He said the nearby police presence was disconcerting, but had also solidified the group's resolve.
"I just hope this continues across the nation and that other student activists and groups can come together, and make their voice heard because it's vital and complacency is the antithesis of what we're trying to do here," Hesselink said.
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With files from Rowan Kennedy, Melissa François, Radio-Canada and The Associated Press