UQAM pro-Palestinian encampment to come down, McGill denounces intimidation on campus

After three weeks of protesting, the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) encampment is set to come down – with demonstrators on Thursday morning saying they’re “satisfied” that their demands have been met.

This comes after UQAM’s board adopted a resolution on Wednesday night condemning “the grave violation of fundamental human rights and the loss of civilian life” – and called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war.

The encampment participants at UQAM say they are pleased that the Board of Directors (CA) of Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) adopted a resolution establishing an academic boycott against Israeli universities.

“The camp has come to an understanding with the administration of the university,” Niall Claphan Ricardo, spokesperson for Independent Jewish Voices at UQAM. “The demands that have been put forward by us were very simple: we wanted disclosure of investments like we were seeing at McGill too, but we also wanted to go further than that and have an academic boycott.”

The university pledged not to hold any assets in funds or companies profiting from armaments, and to disclose their list of investments each year.

It will also ensure that none of its current or future academic agreements conflict with the principles of peace and international humanitarian law.

The activists will continue to offer cultural activities, workshops and education to the university community and the population over the next week, they said.

They also intend to remove the camp no later than June 6, following the adoption of the concrete guidelines for the implementation of the academic boycott by the commission.

UQAM maintains that they hold no ties with Israeli educational institutions.

This will have to be voted on next week.

“It’s pending the decision of the academic council, which means UQAM has to take this step on June 4 and by June 6, the totality of the camp will be dismantled.”

The last occupants will leave during a demonstration demanding the abolition of the Quebec Israel Bureau in Tel Aviv.

In a press release on Thursday afternoon, UQAM says they “welcome the decision of the people present in the encampment.”

“In this resolution, the university expresses in particular its attachment to social justice and freedom of expression, and makes a certain number of commitments which demonstrate its values ​​and take into account the concerns expressed by the people present in the encampment.”

They say the statement from the Board of Directors is in line with UQAM’s values.

“UQAM is and remains a place of exchange and reflection. I am proud that dialogue has been maintained with the people present in the camp since it was set up on May 12. Starting today and in the coming days, we will establish together the next steps leading to the complete dismantling of the camp,” said Stéphane Pallage, rector of UQAM, in the press release.

The tents had been setup on May 12 in the inner courtyard of the Complexe des sciences Pierre-Dansereau, two weeks after the first pro-Palestinian encampment appeared at McGill University.

On Monday, a Superior Court judge authorized UQAM’s request for a partial injunction.

The ruling required occupants to remove all obstructions to doors, windows and security cameras, and to clear a two-metre space alongside the buildings to create a circulation corridor.

“We have proven that it is possible to establish a balance of power and obtain significant gains,” said Leila Khaled, a spokesperson for the UQAM encampment. “Through this historic mobilization, we are sending a clear message to the administrations of other universities. If you want to see an end to the camps, you must take courageous actions.”

McGill wants police to be more present

McGill President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini is asking Montreal police (SPVM) to be more present amid rising tension and intimidation on campus.

In an open letter published Wednesday, Saini said that although violence in the Middle East is “devastating,” intimidation, harassment and discrimination is not acceptable on campus.

“Masked demonstrators have targeted personal residences of senior administrators on more than one occasion,” wrote Saini. “At one such event, the protesters stayed for hours, using amplified megaphones to yell “you can’t hide” and other intimidating slogans.”

McGill’s president claims that they’ve met multiple times with the McGill students representing the encampment and presented offers, but both parties remain in disagreement.

The encampment has been set up since April 27, and protesters have been calling on the university to divest from companies linked to Israel and to cut ties with Israeli institutions.

Saini said that on Sunday evening, protesters hung an effigy of Israel’s Prime Minister dressed in a striped outfit that resembled a prison uniform; or outfits that Jews and other marginalized people wore in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

He claims the situation is past peaceful protesting, and the graffiti around campus borderlines “discriminatory speech.”

“A senior administrator was followed and harassed by masked individuals emerging from the encampment. The offices of one McGill team were also targeted. A table was set with rotted food next to a sign that named each team member with red handprints painted to look like blood. A sign posted stated ‘Food You Deserve,’” he explained.

Two provisional injunction requests were filed to have the protesters removed from campus but were rejected by Quebec Superior Court.

The university will return to court this summer in hopes of having the encampment dismantled.

The president noted that McGill has offered three solutions to move forward with the activists, but no agreements have been made.

“We have offered to examine divestment from companies whose revenues largely come from weapons, to increase McGill’s links to scholars and institutions in Gaza and the West Bank, and provide urgent support to displaced students and scholars,” he wrote. “We would extend McGill’s transparency in our investment reporting by publicly listing the companies in which we have equity holdings under $500,000, where that is permitted.”

Saini concluded that divesting on geopolitical issues will divide others rather than unite them.

“Experience has taught us that maintaining a neutral institutional stance best supports as a whole our 50,000 members who hold varied political views, represent diverse identities, origins, and beliefs, and ardently espouse various causes.”

A McGill encampment participant who did not wish to be identified refused to address Saini’s allegations, but a Wednesday statement on social media from one of the organizers of the encampment, SPHR McGill, says the university has tried to defame their activism.

“We have presented our demands to the McGill administration since the beginning and so they have these demands so they have the power to end this encampment,” she said. “The ball is in their court. If they would like to divest, they can do so, they just have not done that yet and so we will be here, we are not moved.”

Meanwhile, the encampment participants at UQAM say they are in solidarity with those at McGill.

“We’ve got your back,” said Ricardo. “We were there at the beginning, we’re going to be there in the next few weeks, we’re going to keep fighting until McGill takes exactly the same stance as UQAM.”