Montreal police move in to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at Square Victoria

Montreal police (SPVM), alongside blue-collar workers, began dismantling the pro-Palestinian encampment at Square Victoria in downtown Montreal early Friday morning.

Officers started their operation around 5 a.m.

When the SPVM arrived, there were 15 people on the scene. The evacuation appeared to take place peacefully and calmly.

“I think that there has been no negotiation on the part of the of the Quebec governments,” said Voix Juives Indépendantes spokesperson Niall Clapham Ricardo. “So, this morning to see that they believe that by using force and violent techniques such as dismantling the camp is going to make people just magically go away is a lot of wishful thinking.

“There was no warning given to any of the people in the camp. Basically they came and started dismantling quite immediately.”

The encampment was set up on June 22. By 1p.m. on Friday, once the cleanup was over, there was no sign a camp was ever there.

The protesters demanded that the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec end all relations with Israeli institutions they believe are complicit in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. They also asked Quebec to close its office in Israel.

“Most of the people have already dispersed and have left. So for all of the people that said that there was violent protesters in these camps, well, you can see pretty much that there are no violent protesters in these camps,” Ricardo said.

“It seems like a very, very bizarre way to deal about these things with the SPVM to intervene pretty swiftly. We haven’t seen that in any of the other camps and so maybe, this camp really bothered them.”

No arrests were made during intervention.

An 18-year-old man was arrested for an assault against a police office on June 25 after being accused of pointing lasers at police officers near Square Victoria.

According to a press release from the Divest for Palestine Collective, they’ve denounced the dismantling of the Al-Soumoud encampment by the City of Montreal and the SPVM.

“Rather than cease their complicity with the ongoing genocide in Gaza and listen to the voices of the street, our institutions have chosen their camp: that of repression,” reads the press release. “They are trying to stifle any political voice calling for concrete action, refusing to accept their responsibilities and stubbornly endorsing Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. The CDPQ still has $14.2 billion in investments in 87 companies linked to violations of international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people.”

The group says these actions have violated their right to freedom of expression and their right to demonstrate.

“It constitutes an attack on the very values of democracy and justice. The dismantling of the camp does not mean the end of our mobilization. We will not be intimidated by institutions complicit in human rights violations and by Zionist groups! The intifada will continue until Palestine is liberated. We will continue to make our voices heard everywhere and by any means necessary.”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante held a press conference to provide updates and discuss why the encampment was dismantled.

“You cannot use the public space for a permanent protest and that’s for any protest… it will not be tolerated,” Plante said. “This is how we want to assure public property stays public.. But there’s other ways to protest.”

Another pro-Palestinian encampment established on the McGill University campus at the end of April is still standing. 

The one at UQAM came down in early June after protesters there said they were satisfied with progress made with the school’s administration.

“It is very disappointing to repress a peaceful political action in this way,” said Square Victoria camp spokesperson Safa Chebbi. “Our demands need to exist in the public space.”

Plante has ‘lost control’ of city, Ensemble Montréal says

Official Opposition leader Aref Salem said it’s deplorable it took so much pressure and an argument between the Plante administration and Quebec government ministers for dismantle the encampment.

“The chaotic management of these occupations is proof that the mayor has lost control of Montreal. Instead of offering a coherent and clear course of action for everyone, the administration has become mired in a series of contradictions and hesitations, to the detriment of the peace and safety of Montrealers,” said Salem.

“Whatever the cause, it cannot tolerate this kind of action, which sends out a bad image of our city, and must crack down in proportion to the seriousness of these acts. After the numerous incidents of disorder that have taken place, it was high time we put a stop to it.”

McGill University wants encampment gone

Deep Saini, the president and vice-chancellor of McGill University, wants the City of Montreal and the SPVM to be consistent in their approach by acting swiftly to remove the encampment on campus as well.

“While the Square Victoria encampment is being dismantled after less than two weeks, the encampment on our downtown campus has remained on lower field for more than two months,” wrote Saini in a press release Friday. “The encampment further presents major safety risks including issues related to hygiene, security, and fire safety. Just yesterday, fire department officials attempted once again to conduct a safety inspection on the site. And once again, they were refused access by those guarding the entrance, in contravention of municipal by-laws.”

Saini says the encampment has generated intimidation and harassment on campus.

“The encampment on McGill’s campus is situated on private property. Its ongoing presence excludes members of the University community from access – save for those permitted entry by those who guard the site – and deprives us of use and enjoyment of the site.”

Mayor Plante says it’s up to the university to revise its strategy and negotiate.

A McGill student, who wished to remain anonymous, said the encampment on campus has been peaceful since its inception.

The student claims that under the false pretence of a fire inspection, the city and the SPVM have tried to dismantle the camp.

“People at camp from the beginning have maintained that this encampment is an active protest. It’s a peaceful, active protest and has so far remained safe and totally peaceful,” they said. “The pretence of a fire hazard and a fire inspection has been used from the very beginning of both injunctions as well as by McGill, without any real grounds to justify a dismantling of this camp. So, the camp categorically refuses to engage with the police or the city or McGill on the terms of fire safety when the camp has been well maintained, proven itself peaceful and proven itself safe for the last two months.

“People are mobilized, they’re energetic and there’s more pressure on McGill than there ever has been.”

–With files from Alyssia Rubertucci