Jewish students tried to prevent the visit of the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, to McGill University on Monday.
Posted at 5:21 p.m.
The international law specialist presented to students her most recent report discussing “the first colonial genocide broadcast live”.
A group of students and Jewish organizations opposed the event, saying they feared for their safety.
In a formal notice sent Friday to the rector of McGill University, Deep Saini, they ordered the administration to “prevent Mme Albanese for promoting hate speech on campus.”
While in Montreal, she was invited by pro-Palestinian student organizations, including Law Students for Palestine at McGill (LSPM), to hold a conference on the downtown campus.
The event was approved and the room was booked without problem a week ago, organizers say.
“We even spoke with the person responsible for the activities and we told him that security guards had been hired at our own expense,” says an LSPM representative who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
Four days before the conference, however, McGill University contacted the organizers, forcing them to move the event online or on the same day, but in the evening.
A last minute change that didn’t suit M’s scheduleme Albanese, in addition to “disrespecting” him, say the organizers.
By email, McGill University indicates that it has “received indications that there could be a confrontation between groups with clearly opposing positions, which could turn out badly.”
She maintains that the space reserved for the event was also close to classrooms where lessons would be given at the same time.
“The conditions communicated were in no way based on opinions regarding the speaker or the groups that invited him,” the administration added.
Under pressure from students, the university agreed to hold the event at the original time, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but in a smaller room.
The proposal was rejected by the organizers, who decided to hold the conference in the McGill Student Association building.
“We find it absolutely disgraceful that the administration should so brazenly oppose a student initiative,” laments the LSPM representative.
More than 250 people attended the conference, which went off without a hitch, she assures.
Depicting the “atrocities” suffered by the Palestinian people, Francesca Albanese denounces in her report the inaction of Western governments. It calls on them to respect their obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
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