A protest camp in support of Palestinians, assembled during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, is removed by private security guards at McGill University’s campus in Montreal on July 10.Andrej Ivanov/Reuters
Private security guards cleared the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University on Wednesday, bringing an end to a campus protest that was among the first in a wave that spread across the country.
The McGill protest calling for the university to cut ties with Israel over its war in Gaza began on April 27 when dozens of students occupied a field on the university’s downtown Montreal campus. The encampment quickly grew to be a small village of tents surrounded by fencing bearing pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans and attracted counterprotesters.
Its end came early Wednesday when dozens of police officers blocked entrances to the university. Encampment participants were warned three times between 4:46 a.m. and 7:42 a.m. that they would be escorted off campus if they didn’t leave of their own accord, the university said, adding that nearly all of the approximately 35 people present complied. According to Montreal police, one person was arrested following an alleged assault of a security guard.
McGill closed its campus for the day and moved classes online to accommodate the operation. A private security company, in co-ordination with police, cleared the site through the morning. Many campus buildings were to remain closed Thursday, McGill said.
McGill president Deep Saini said in a university-wide note that McGill will always support free expression and assembly within the bounds of the law and university policies. But he said events connected to this protest “go far beyond peaceful protest and have inhibited the respectful exchange of views and ideas that is so essential to the university.”
“People linked to the camp have harassed our community members, engaged in antisemitic intimidation, damaged and destroyed McGill property, forcefully occupied a building, clashed with police, and committed acts of assault,” he added.
The police-involved dismantling of the camp at McGill represents a different outcome than at some Ontario universities, including the University of Toronto, where encampments have wound down through negotiation and court action.
McGill University closed its downtown campus on Wednesday as Montreal police and private security guards descended in large numbers to help clear a pro-Palestinian encampment on June 10.Alexis Aubin/The Globe and Mail
More than two-dozen encampments sprang up on campuses across the country since late April, part of a broad movement across North American postsecondary schools. Protests have tried to draw attention to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and push administrations to divest from firms tied to the Israeli military and break ties with some Israeli universities.
A deal announced on Wednesday to dismantle an encampment at the University of Windsor included language related to greater transparency in investments and ensuring human-rights concerns are monitored in academic partnerships. Encampments at Western University, the University of Ottawa and at the University of Waterloo have ended in recent days and one at the University of Guelph appears to be winding down. In many cases a resolution was reached through a combination of negotiation and threatened court action.
Protesters at the University of Toronto reached an agreement that the university would not pursue legal action or student disciplinary charges if the protesters left before a court-imposed deadline to vacate King’s College Circle last week.
McGill broke off negotiations with protesters in June after saying it was clear they were not likely to be fruitful, and after a series of protest escalations that the university said were unacceptable. McGill accused the protesters of intimidation and vandalism, notably during an occupation of the James Administration Building in early June, when riot police arrested 15 people and used tear gas to disperse the protest.
On Wednesday, Dr. Saini said McGill made the decision to dismantle the protest in close collaboration with officials from the City of Montreal and its police force. He said McGill also hired an outside firm to investigate and clear the encampment. The university later identified the security firm as Sirco, which it described as “meticulous and careful in gathering and documenting sensitive information,” and said its investigation continues.
According to Dr. Saini, the company said it had found that few members of the encampment were connected to McGill. It also found significant health, safety and fire risks, including a rat infestation, and added that two drug overdoses had occurred in the past week. That information led the university administration to conclude there was an urgent need to move, according to Dr. Saini.
“This camp was not a peaceful protest. It was a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence,” he wrote.
Alia Hall, a 24-year-old Concordia student who took part in the encampment, vowed that protests against Israel’s war in Gaza and McGill’s financial ties will continue.
“I don’t think today is a bad thing. It just shows their true colours,” Ms. Hall said. “We will not stop. We will be on the streets until justice, until liberation, until divestment.”
She cast doubt on the McGill administration’s reasons for removing the encampment and disputed their statement about drug overdoses.
Guy Lapointe, a spokesperson for the Montreal fire department, confirmed that protesters denied them access to the site.
Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, expressed approval of the university’s move on social media, adding that the government has said for several months that encampments have no place on university campuses.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that a private security firm was brought in to dismantle the encampment, overseen by police.