McGill ‘baffled’ by police inaction on ‘threatening’ encampment tactics

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McGill University’s president has denounced what he describes as intensifying intimidation tactics by supporters of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the school’s downtown campus.

Deep Saini has also disclosed the university’s offer to the protesters, saying it was rejected even though it’s similar to proposals that have led to resolutions at other universities.

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In a message to students, staff, parents and alumni this week, Saini said masked demonstrators have targeted the homes of school administrators, a senior official was harassed by masked people from the encampment and profane graffiti has appeared on campus.

The encampment has been in place since April 27. McGill is seeking an injunction to dismantle it. On Thursday, organizers of a similar camp at the Université du Québec à Montréal announced they would end their protest after the university met most demands.

In his message, Saini said some of the protesters’ graffiti and signage “comes very close to, and occasionally crosses, the lines into discriminatory speech.”

At the offices of one McGill team, a table was set up with rotten food and “a sign that named each team member with red handprints painted to look like blood.”

A sign also said “Food You Deserve.”

Saini said: “None of this is peaceful protesting; it is designed to threaten, coerce and scare people. It is completely unacceptable. In each case, we have reported what has happened to the police and urged them to act.”

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He also referred to an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that was hanged from the Roddick Gates on Sunday.

The effigy was dressed in “a striped outfit that resembled a prisoner’s uniform,” Saini said. “That outfit also bore a close likeness to the uniform that millions of Jews and other marginalized peoples who suffered and died in concentration camps during the Second World War were forced to wear.”

Witnesses told The Gazette that police officers were nearby when the effigy was hanged.

Montreal police, “as we understand it, watched the events unfold without preventing them,” Saini said. “This baffles us, and we have asked them to take every action possible under the law.”

On Wednesday, a lawyer representing two McGill students formally called on Montreal police to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

The Gazette asked Montreal police about Saini’s comments regarding the effigy and his request for McGill to act on other incidents.

“Since an investigation is underway, we cannot comment so as not to interfere with its progress,” the department said.

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The McGill chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), one of the groups behind the encampment, responded to McGill via social media on Wednesday night. It accused the administration of unleashing “a propaganda and defamation campaign against all pro-Palestinian activism on their campus.”

“Despite students voicing through the available institutional channels and so-called ‘democratic’ processes, we have been shut down at every opportunity,” the statement read. It said McGill is prioritizing “donor interests and funding over the safety and collective will of its students.”

Saini said the escalation has occurred despite efforts to engage with McGill students involved in the protest about their demands for the university to divest from companies linked to Israel.

“We have met multiple times with the McGill students representing the encampment and presented offers in good faith,” Saini said. “These representatives walked away from the table at our last meeting.”

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Saini said the university has made an offer that aligns “with McGill’s mission and principles of academic freedom, integrity, responsibility, equity and inclusiveness.”

He said McGill offered to:

• Examine “divestment from companies whose revenues largely come from weapons.”
• Increase “McGill’s links to scholars and institutions in Gaza and the West Bank, and provide urgent support to displaced students and scholars.”
• Publicly list the companies in which it has equity holdings under $500,000, where that is permitted.

Saini said calls for divestment based on geopolitical issues “serve to divide, not unite.”

“Experience has taught us that maintaining a neutral institutional stance best supports (members of the McGill community) who hold varied political views, represent diverse identities, origins and beliefs, and ardently espouse various causes.”

Saini said negotiations have been difficult.

“In many other institutions, we’ve seen encampment leaders work with campus administration to find some common ground that represents positive change, despite disagreements. Yet, McGill’s offer, which is comparable to that made by other universities (that) have reached resolutions, has been rejected by the encampment on our campus.”

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In its response, the SPHR said McGill is “pretending to be engaged in ‘good faith’ dialogue” with protesters, noting the administration has declined to suspend legal and disciplinary actions.

On Wednesday, Montreal lawyer Neil Oberman made public a letter he sent to Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher asking for an investigation into incidents he said contravene criminal code provisions related to the public incitement of hatred.

He said the Netanyahu effigy and other incidents incite hatred against Jewish people in the city of Montreal. The letter includes an image showing a chalk message on pavement that reads: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Oberman also asked police to investigate a McGill student who allegedly made a social media post calling for Allah to “destroy” Jews.

In a separate letter to Saini, Oberman asked McGill to investigate that post. “In accordance with McGill’s policies and procedures, this type of conduct is unacceptable and should not be allowed on campus,” it read.

Paul Cherry contributed to this report.

ariga@postmedia.com

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