Protesters deface a McGill University building after march to protest a year of military action in Gaza.
On Oct. 7, student protesters and other activists convened outside Henry F. Hall Building for a march protesting one year of military action in Gaza. The protest ended with destruction of campus property and mass tear gassing of protesters.
The event was organized by Concordia and McGill’s Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance organizations (SPHR). Other organizations, such as Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and Profs4Palestine, were present. The original plan was to walk from the Hall building to McGill’s Roddick Gates on Sherbrooke St. W.
“We are still having to do [a walkout] a year in because there is no sign of an end,” said IJV representative Zev Saltiel. As a trans person, Saltiel also walks to condemn Israel’s claim of being the only safe place for LGBTQI+ people in the Middle East.
Saltiel’s great-grandparents found refuge in Palestine after escaping Nazi-occupied Greece.
“Palestine welcomed my family and kept them safe when nobody else would,” he said. “Everybody else was killed except for my two great-grandparents, and now the Jewish community out in Israel is committing genocide against the very people who accepted us when nobody else would.”
The Montreal police (SPVM) blockaded De Maisonneuve Blvd. and Bishop St., some wearing riot gear, as counter-protesters waved Israeli flags on the east side of the intersection.
At the rally, Palestinian activist Samar Alkhdour said she was satisfied with the turnout, but not with the heavy police presence.
“It’s ridiculous, and it tells a lot about the country that we’re living in at this point,” said Alkhdour. “It’s just a fascist state that aims to suppress the freedom of expression and people standing up, calling out these institutions and asking for stopping their genocide.”
The activist is hopeful that this movement’s message will be heard. “It’s been a year, and I know it’s taken a long time, but it’s our duty to keep our presence and that pressure on the government.”
Law enforcement was heavily present downtown, blocking traffic to provide space for protesters to walk. Meanwhile, some drivers on the street brawled with protesters, as the march was blocking the street.
The crowd walked east down onto Ste-Catherine St. and turned north on Drummond St. and up the hill toward McGill.
After sprinting down onto McTavish St. from Dr. Penfield Ave., the crowd ran down the library underpass and around the Redpath Library. Protesters burst through fencing as McGill maintenance staff attempted to create a barricade on the walkway.
Blocking the path was a line of mounted police officers on horseback. Protesters pushed and shoved groups of bicycle police, entering from another side. Riot police emerged from behind the crowd, beating their shields with batons. SVPM officers cornered the group from all sides and the protesters were shoved off campus back onto McTavish St. The crowd rallied together next to Redpath Library.
After the SPVM shut down Sherbrooke St. between Metcalfe St. and Victoria St., the manifestation looped back north of the campus onto Pine Ave.
There, protest leaders stopped the march and climbed up the steps of 505 Pine Ave. The address neighbours the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute, a new complex named after the Israeli-Canadian philanthropist who donated $30 million for its construction.
“This building is about to finish construction. Are we going to let that happen?” asked one of the rally leaders, to which the crowd shouted “No!” in return. “Take out your rage on the building,” said the speaker.
Some members of the crowd proceeded to throw paint-filled balloons into the opening entrance of the building, onto its stairs, and spray-painted the wood paneling covering the facade, while others used scaffolding to break windows and the front doors’ glass panes.
An anonymous SPHR Concordia representative said the protesters targeted this building because of its ties to Sylvan Adams. They claimed that Adams “funds the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]”.
“We won’t allow someone who directly funds what we’ve seen in the past 12 months to be able to very peacefully carry on his renovation projects,” said the representative.
There is no evidence that Adams has ever funded the IDF. He has donated to sports and cultural events in Israel, and Tel Aviv University (TAU) has named a sports complex after him. Students at TAU have been protesting Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government, and the school has ties to Israel’s military.
After the protesters had broken multiple windows, riot police charged the crowd, spraying tear gas, forcing everyone down the hill toward Park Ave. The hundreds of people still protesting broke into small groups, dispersing in all directions, concluding the protest around 5 p.m.
“I think all of these piling up will eventually force not just Concordia but McGill as well, to listen to the students properly,” said the same anonymous SPHR Concordia representative. “Because even though they have increased security, they have increased police presence and increased surveillance targeting, despite that, the escalation has reached the most extreme level, and I think all these accumulations of things will eventually force them to give the students what they want.”
McGill has not responded to the Concordian’s request for comment at the time of publication.
To read about the vigil for Israel held at Roddick Gates, click here.