Quebec was flooded with pro-Palestine protests on Thursday as 85,000 students across 13 university campuses went on strike for two days to demand their universities divest from Israel.
According to one of the organizing groups – Coalition de résistance pour l’unité étudiante syndicale (CRUES) – the strikes were designed to coincide with the opening of the NATO conference in Montreal. CRUES accused Nato of refusing aid to Palestinians, and of approving of “the ongoing genocide.”
The main protest took place in Concordia University in Montreal, but was joined by students from McGill and Dawson college. The latter cancelled all classes on Thursday out of “concerns about the safety of students and employees on the day of the boycott,” Canadian news reported.
Of the 85,000 strikers, 11,000 were Concordia students, who were coordinated by 11 student groups and one faculty group, according to the university’s The Link newspaper.
According to CTV News, a protest leader led a chant saying “Listen to the ICC,” which comes just after the court announced arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
One student told CTV News that the protest took up all 12 floors of the main Concordia building, and that “Free Gaza” was spray painted on lockers.
The protesters also distributed flyers, and overturned garbage cans.
Other videos show the protesters chanting “Long live the Intifada” and trying to break down doors.
At 2:48 p.m., the university issued an emergency alert telling students and staff on campus to not leave their location unless their safety required evacuation, according to local news.
Palestinian Youth Movement’s Montreal bracket wrote on Instagram “Glory to our people resisting the zionist colonial project and genocide. We will not stop until Palestine is fully liberated, from the Jordan river, to the Mediterranean Sea.”
On the street outside, hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters sang chants. A masked pro-Palestinian protester was filmed shouting “The final solution is coming your way, the final solution. You know what the final solution is?” at a dozen pro-Israel protesters.
The small group of pro-Israel protesters chanted “Bring them home,” according to the Gazette.
Ahead of the strikes, Concordia sent an email to staff and students calling on them to “denounce violence in all its forms.”
“Everyone has a responsibility to help ensure that protest activities remain peaceful and respectful and do not cross the line into criminal acts, such as vandalism and assault,” the email added.
Hillel Montreal condemned the “internationally coordinated “student intifada.”
“While promoted as a “strike,” this was simply an aggressive campaign of intimidation, hate, and harassment, as seen in this video.”
Hillel added that the protesters were organized “by extremists seeking to hijack higher education.”
