Protests Disrupt Classes at McGill University Amid Divestment Strike

Montreal, Canada – Anti-Israel activists blocked access to classes at McGill University on Wednesday as part of a student union-backed strike demanding the institution sever ties with companies linked to Israel.

Masked demonstrators, dressed in keffiyehs, raised banners in front of classrooms, participating in what they referred to as picket lines on Instagram. According to the Students for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), “over 16 auditorium classrooms were confronted with student-led pickets, effectively enforcing the strike mandate.”

The activists urged other students not to attend classes and encouraged them to participate in their own lectures focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. B’nai Brith Canada criticized the protesters, stating on X that the disruption of classes during the student strike is an infringement on academic freedom.

“Activism is a protected right – intimidation is not,” B’nai Brith Canada wrote on social media. “No student should have to choose between their safety and their education. Disrupting classes, harassing students and faculty, and hijacking campus spaces is not activism; it’s dangerous behavior that has no place on a Canadian campus.” They called on McGill to take immediate action, asserting, “McGill is failing its students. The University has a responsibility to ensure the well-being and academic success of every student – this must end now.”

On the eve of the strike, a petition was circulated urging students to report professors who conducted classes during the protest, as noted by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). The SSMU condemned both the petition and any actions that contradicted the principles of a peaceful strike, emphasizing that participation should not be enforced.

“While we support and encourage participation, we strongly denounce any acts or communications that are meant to intimidate others, including those who choose not to participate,” SSMU stated in a Wednesday release. “Any actor who attempts to threaten or pressure students or faculty into participating, either through physical intimidation, online harassment campaigns, or otherwise, does not speak for the SSMU, and we firmly condemn such actions.”

The strike is scheduled to run from Wednesday through Friday, following a motion passed in a Special Strike General Assembly last Thursday. The purpose of the strike, dubbed “a strike in support of Palestinian liberation,” is to demand that McGill divest from “corporations supporting military activity in Gaza, an end to institutional relationships with complicit entities, and a cessation of suppression of student activism on campus.”

McGill University has consistently taken a stance on the ongoing conflict. The McGill Board of Governors highlighted this stance during discussions regarding a Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility report on divestment from defense firms in February. Following a violent incident on February 5 where windows in five campus buildings were smashed by anti-Israel activists, McGill President Deep Saini reaffirmed the university’s opposition to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions policies.

SPHR confirmed via social media that protests would continue on Thursday, stating, “Resistance until divestment. Join us tomorrow for the second day of this historic strike. Long live Gaza, the graveyard of the occupation, and long live the Student Intifada.”