Anti-Israel protesters block access to McGill University buildings

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The professor moved to the course online, and protesters blocked McGill’s chance to enter the classroom at the start of the three-day student strike this week.

“Anti-Israel protesters are physically blocking lecture halls inside the Bronfman building and destroying classes to prevent classmates from getting their education,” pro-Al-advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada wrote Wednesday X.

“Protest is a protected right – intimidation is not. No student must choose between safety and education. Interferences in curriculum, harassing students and faculty and hijacking the space on campus is not activism, it is dangerous behavior, and there is no place on Canadian campuses.”

Montreal police conducted dispatched protests and counter-protests on Thursday.

“The police are there to make sure that the two groups (not) merge and commit any crime,” Agent Manuel Coupre told the National Post in an interview.

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No arrests. Police said they arrived around 12:30 p.m. and realized there will be two protests on Thursday. Police said protesters gathered around 2 p.m. and left around 3:30 p.m.

“We do know that some protesters are gathering inside the building, but most of our police operations are outside,” Ouper said.

The protests began Wednesday and were until Friday. Videos posted online show protesters wearing masks and keffiyehs protesting in classrooms and campus on Wednesday. McGill said in an emailed statement that 20 classes were interrupted, but most continued as planned.

“(On Thursday), more classes must be cancelled, with some protesters engaged in vandalism. McGill University personnel are working to reduce interference and work with Montreal police to reduce interference and facilitate access to classrooms,” the statement said.

Starting Friday, entering university buildings will require student or staff cards, McGill said in a statement.

The protests were organized by the McGill University Student Society, which called on the university to abandon its investment in weapons manufacturers, which illustrates the connection to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. In June last year, facing protest camps, McGill President Deep Saini announced that the school would explore the divestment of all weapons manufacturers, regardless of any geopolitical considerations.

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Student Union President Dymetri Taylor told the Montreal Gazette that protesters targeted lecture halls in multiple buildings.

A video posted by B’nai Brith Canada on social media showed a student speaking in a lecture hall telling people that protesters were trying to keep students from attending classes, “expressing support for Palestine.” Students encourage others to leave.

“We’re going to make noise outside,” the student said.

Another video shows a female student trying to enter a lecture hall blocked by protesters.

“I want to go to class. Stop.” The students pushed away the protesters.

Wednesday, circulated in the form of students, titled “Report your non-compliant professor,” requires class time, room number and screenshots of the professor’s information about teachers who continue teaching during the student strike.

It was shared by a former student group on Instagram, Student of Palestine Honors and Resistance (SPHR McGill). The Montreal Gazette reported that the organization had previously lost its official status as a college student club.

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McGill’s vice provost Angela Campbell condemned the form in an email to students, calling it “totally immoral, unacceptable and harmful to our community” and described it as a “intimidation tactic” that violates McGill’s code of student conduct.

“The form is used as a channel through which students can inform the picket professors of their non-compliant professors,” a representative for SPHR McGill told the Gazette.

Also on Wednesday, protesters and non-student supporters waved the Palestinian flag at Roddick Gates of McGill. In the student union, a copy of the student-run newspaper The Tribune had the front page title, which read: “Student, you must strike for Palestine. There is no justice, no class.”

The paper also has an editorial, which argues: “All undergraduates should see it as a moral responsibility for strikes.”

Last year, McGill was the site of a long standoff between the university and anti-Israel protesters.

State Post, and other reports from the Montreal Gazette

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