Pro-Palestinian camp at UQAM | A judge says he is in favor of UQAM’s request for an injunction

A judge intends to grant UQAM’s request for an injunction, but “not as is,” he said Friday morning. The Superior Court heard the request for an injunction from the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) to partially dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up on its campus.

” I doubt […] that I completely reject the injunction,” said Judge Louis-Joseph Gouin, who intends to deliver his final judgment no later than Monday morning.

The judge expressed the wish that UQAM and the pro-Palestinian demonstrators agree on a “code of life” in order to ensure security on the university campus, where the encampment has been established since mid-May. “I will not grant it as it is,” said the judge, regarding the request for an injunction.

With this request, UQAM is attempting to dismantle parts of the pro-Palestinian camp installed on the lawn of the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex. She must prove the urgency of acting in order to obtain a provisional interlocutory injunction, which would last ten days, if granted.

The university expressed concern about the management of the camp in court. “UQAM is ready to tolerate the presence of occupants, but as long as we do not hinder free movement, access and exit from buildings, and we do not endanger the security of its premises and its occupants,” pleaded Friday morning M^e Martin Côté, who represents the university. According to the establishment, the situation requires urgent action.

M^e Max Silverman, who represents the camp, affirmed that the fears expressed by UQAM are “only suppositions”. According to the lawyer, the demonstrators “created emergency exits in accordance with the instructions of the Montreal Fire Department” as of May 20, and security measures are in place at the encampment, where a “spirit of collaboration and cooperation” reigns. ‘listen “.

Question of perimeter

According to UQAM, the encampment, called “Al-Aqsa Popular University”, poses an attack on its property rights. “The situation has only intensified […] we saw the perimeter of the camp which has grown in recent days,” added M^e Martin Cote.

He said he was “very sensitive” to the idea of ​​creating a security perimeter around the camp, which is currently enclosed in an interior courtyard on the campus. “It seems to me that freeing three meters along the buildings is safe for everyone,” said the judge.

However, imposing such a security corridor would put the camp in danger, according to M^e Max Silverman, who represents the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who pitched their tents on the UQAM campus. “This is in effect dismantling the encampment, or at least making it very vulnerable,” he argued, adding that reducing the encampment would expose it “to counter-demonstrations from the extreme right.”

With Henri Ouellette-Vézina, The Press