More than a week after the establishment of pro-Palestinian camps at McGill University, it is the turn of students from Laval University to organize a day to denounce the situation in Gaza “peacefully.”
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Dozens of people came to the scene to protest for the rights and freedoms of Palestinians. Speaking engagements, discussion groups, music and dance are on the schedule.
Volunteers are on site to ensure security, which began at 10 a.m. Saturday morning and should end around 10 p.m. The organization says it is holding a “family friendly and open to all” event.
The co-organizer of the gathering Marjorie Laclotte-Shehyn explained to TVA Nouvelles the reasons behind the decision to plan this event: “We would like Laval University to be able to comment on the ceasefire and the situation happening at Gaza and Palestine in general. We believe that we are still in a university where there are speeches in history classes that talk about past genocides. Teachers are able to position themselves on this and provide solutions so that it does not happen again.”
“The university is private land, it is not necessarily a place where we can do what we want,” said Andrée-Anne Stewart, spokesperson for Laval University. “But when there are students who want to organize activities […] and which present to us developments which are laudable, we take the time to look into them.”
For its part, the professors’ union at Laval University says it is “in agreement” since it wants students to be able to express their opinion.
Laval University allowed its students to plan this event on its campus. The management would have met with the organizers, in particular to ensure that the day took place peacefully. She would be for “freedom of expression”.
