Concordia students push for university to divest from Israel as on-campus tensions remain
Universities across Montreal still hotspots for activism linked to conflict in Gaza
Last week, as a thick layer of snow blanketed Montreal's streets, dozens of students gathered outside the Guy-De Maisonneuve (GM) Building at Concordia University's downtown campus.
They carried signs and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.
Universities across Montreal have become flashpoints for activism linked to the conflict in Gaza. But despite the ceasefire, students say there is still tension on campus.
"[We] are very much acutely aware of the fact that the struggle for Palestine doesn't end with a ceasefire in Gaza," said Dana Ballantyne, the Concordia Student Union's (CSU) external and mobilization co-ordinator.
The previous day, a group of people smashed windows at McGill University and wrote "free Palestine" under the Roddick Gates.
Police say the suspects fled before officers arrived and no arrests have been made.
The evening of the Feb. 6 protest, the CSU planned to present the university's board of governors two motions asking the university to divest from companies with ties to the Israeli military and to declare support for a full arms embargo.
They didn't submit their request to present in time and had to postpone their efforts to April, when the next meeting will take place.
Still, the request itself is controversial and has received backlash online. In January, at a special general assembly, the vast majority of the nearly 1,000 students in attendance voted in favour of bringing the motions to the board.
Ballantyne said she was surprised to see such a strong student turnout for the vote.
For Anastasia Zorchinsky, a CSU councillor and founder of Startup Nation Montreal, a pro-Israel student group, the vote was evidence of a growing divide on campus. She said the results didn't represent the true will of the student body because most of the student population was not present for the vote.
Concordia's president Graham Carr released a statement condemning the vote, calling it "contrary to the value of academic freedom upon which all universities are founded."
Campuses still reeling from protests
Last spring, students at McGill and Concordia erected an encampment on McGill's lower field, echoing similar protests on campuses across North America. Tents filled university green spaces, Palestinian flags waved above clusters of students sitting cross-legged in teach-ins. Some students stayed at the encampment for 10 weeks until security moved in to clear them out.
Hugo Victor Solomon, vice-president of external affairs at the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU), described a campus still reeling from months of protests and counter-protests.
The university had pledged to review its investments in arms manufacturers but stopped short of committing to full divestment.
"They don't want to come across as kind of conceding to the demands of the [students]," Solomon said. "I think that there is kind of a very jaded and contemptuous regard for this student movement."
Zeyad Abisaab, a Concordia student and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, was at the McGill encampment from the start. For him, the encampment had been a defining moment, but not the end of his efforts.
"The student movement has only grown in the past year and a half, and it keeps growing," Abisaab said.
But for some students, activism on campus has gone too far.
"We're here to represent the 35,000 students that go to Concordia," Zorchinsky, StartUp Nation Montreal's founder, said. "I am not here on the student union in order to help a different agenda." She argued that the student government should focus on issues closer to home, not geopolitical affairs.
Since the ceasefire was announced, "the mood has been quite similar to what it used to be, but also it feels very, very wrong what's going on on campus right now," Zorchinsky said.
She described backlash against her group's advocacy for the release of Israeli hostages, stating that members were met with hostility while setting up tables to engage with students.
"We put signs 'welcome home' for different hostages that just came home and we received stares, we received screams," she said. "People just came there and took our papers and just basically ripped them up."
In response to the recent protests, Concordia University said it continues to "respect the right of students and others to peacefully express themselves."
While the CSU motions won't be heard until April, protests continue to be organized, with activists emphasizing they have no plans to curtail their efforts until that board of governors meeting.
"I think that the students have proven that there is nothing beyond their grasp," said Abisaab. "So I think that …encampments can pop up, strikes can happen, protests can happen."
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