McGill asks for police assistance clearing pro-Palestinian encampment

McGill University has asked for police assistance to clear the pro-Palestinian encampment on its campus, university president Deep Saini said in an email to the community Tuesday morning.

“Having to resort to police authority is a gut-wrenching decision for any university president,” Saini said. “It is, by no means, a decision that I take lightly or quickly. In the present circumstances, however, I judged it necessary.”

Calling it a “difficult and complex situation”, Saini said the university made the decision to ask for police assistance late Monday.

“We informed participants that this encampment was not authorized and gave them time to gather their belongings and leave the premises. However, the encampments remain. As we worked through the steps, we also engaged in dialogue with representatives of McGill students,” Saini said.

“As we have failed to reach a resolution, yesterday late afternoon we took we the final step in our protocol, and requested police assistance. Police representatives, who have expertise in skillfully resolving situations such as these, are beginning their own process. We continue to work with them to resolve the matter. “

Shortly before Saini’s announcement, students in the encampment insisted they remain committed to their cause.

With McGill threatening to move toward dismantling the camp, they had asked people to help support the protest overnight. More tarps covering the tents had been added by morning and the fence surrounding them had been reinforced.

“McGill has been threatening a repressive police response for a couple of days now,” one student who spent the night said Tuesday morning, refusing to give his name. “So we’re asking for support, for people to show up, because if we have strength in numbers it makes it harder for the police to escalate.”

As the student spoke, a man with a McGill-branded umbrella stopped by the encampment to drop off a dozen powdered donuts and wish campers good luck with the weather.

“People are staying dry as best they can,” the student said. “But I don’t think it’s the rain that’s going to stop us.”

The camp was erected on the lower part of the university’s downtown Montreal campus Saturday and has been steadily growing ever since.

The protest is meant to bring together students from different Montreal universities in demanding their schools cut ties with Israeli institutions and companies in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

In an email to students and staff on Monday, Saini had urged students to leave the site, saying the protest had escalated to a point where it is no longer safe and that “hateful rhetoric has been flagrantly used” on the site.

Saini echoed statements from the university saying it is trying to de-escalate the situation before resorting to police assistance. “It is both appalling and heartbreaking to see individuals occupying our campus to use it as a platform for obvious antisemitism,” Saini wrote.

Students have strongly rejected the claim their actions are antisemitic and say they’ve become accustomed to the university describing their different forms of protest as such in recent months.

“It’s a tactic to manufacture consent for a repressive escalation against students who, again, are demanding very simply for divestment and academic boycott,” said the student who spoke Tuesday morning.

“The demands are clear and until they’re met, we’re not going to leave. So every email only further enrages the people that are spending their time camping here and have passion for this,” he added.

1. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

2. Students set up a protest encampment in solidarity with Palestinians at McGill University in Montreal on April 28, 2024.Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

3. People take part in an encampment protest on the grounds of McGill campus Sunday, April 28, 2023 in Montreal to protest the war in Gaza. (John Kenney / MONTREAL GAZETTE)Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

4. People take part in an encampment protest on the grounds of McGill campus Sunday, April 28, 2024 in Montreal to protest the war in Gaza. (John Kenney / MONTREAL GAZETTE)Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

5. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

6. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

7. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

8. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

9. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

10. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

11. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

12. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

13. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

14. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

15. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

16. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

17. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

18. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

19. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

20. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

21. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

22. McGill University students have erected a camp on the campus grounds in Montreal on Sunday April 28, 2024 in protest of the continued fighting in the Middle East.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

23. A pro-Palestinian encampment remained on McGill's campus on the morning of April 29, 2024.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

24. A pro-Palestinian encampment remained on McGill's campus on the morning of April 29, 2024.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

25. A pro-Palestinian encampment remained on McGill's campus on the morning of April 29, 2024.Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

26. People use umbrellas to block the view of a journalist as they take part in an encampment protest on the grounds of McGill campus Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Montreal to protest the war in Gaza.Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

27. A view of an encampment protest on the grounds of McGill campus Sunday, April 28, 2024 in Montreal to protest the war in Gaza.Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

28. People take part in an encampment protest on the grounds of McGill campus Sunday, April 28, 2023 in Montreal to protest the war in Gaza.Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

29. Students at a protest encampment in solidarity with Palestinians at McGill University in Montreal on April 28, 2024Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

30. MONTREAL, QUE.: APRIL 29, 2024 -- The grounds of the McGill encampment on Monday April 29, 2024.Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

31. A student puts up signs on the grounds of the McGill encampment on Monday April 29, 2024.Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

32. Maria, who would not give her last name, is a McGill student on the grounds of the McGill encampment on Monday April 29, 2024.Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

33. Signs at the McGill encampment on Monday April 29, 2024.Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

34. Zia, no last name, a Concordia arts student, makes signs on the grounds of the McGill encampment on Monday April 29, 2024.Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

There was no police presence at the camp as of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. There were no reports of any incidents overnight at the camp, and Montreal police have so far said there have not been any issues with the encampment.

Police officers did visit the camp to briefly speak with organizers Monday evening and kept watch on the site overnight. Signs near the encampment’s entrance state the fences are erected to keep police and agitators from entering.

Radio-Canada reported that Montreal lawyer Neil Oberman will file a request in Montreal court on Tuesday afternoon for a  injunction seeking the dismantling of the encampment. Oberman is reportedly acting on behalf of two McGill students and McGill University is listed as an interested party in the injunction request.

Meanwhile, a new poll released Tuesday suggests that the vast majority of Canadians think a university campus is legitimate site for protest.

A total of 81 per cent of the 1,707 respondents of an Angus-Reid poll found that a university campus was an “acceptable” site for a protest, while 92 per cent believed that a city hall was a legitimate venue for a protest.

Those numbers dropped however when respondents were asked about picketing in front of houses of worship (54 per cent), public schools (49 per cent), the homes of public personalities such as politicians CEOs or diplomats (47 per cent) or abortion clinics (40 per cent).

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This story will be updated.