Antifa try to block coverage of Canada's first anti-Israel tent city at McGill University

Alexandra Lavoie
  |   April 29, 2024   |   Be the first to comment

Early in the afternoon on Saturday, April 27, a group of anti-Israel activists decided to emulate the protest movement trending on American campuses and establish their own encampment at McGill.

Students from both McGill and Concordia University, along with non-student protesters, erected fences, toilets and various tents on the premises, demanding the institution sever ties with Israel.

This marks the first such encampment in Canada, following similar actions at numerous universities across the United States in recent weeks. Shockingly, several of these campus protests in support of Hamas have reportedly prevented Jewish students from entering the premises and chanted antisemitic slogans.

Reports of antisemitic slogans and intimidation were brought to the attention of McGill University, which condemned such behaviour in a statement issued on Monday, April 29. 

In its statement, the university mentioned how many, if not the majority, of demonstrators were not students or staff of McGill.

"McGill has been steadfast in its support of the rights of our campus community to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly," the school's statement said. "We have been clear that these encampments violate both."

The university also added it saw video evidence of some protesters using "unequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour," which it called "absolutely unacceptable."

Throughout the letter, the school mentioned being in contact with a lawyer retained by McGill students in the encampment to discuss conditions to ensure safety and a establish a timeline to remove the tents.

During our coverage on the ground, two Jewish students expressed concerns about the safety of Jewish people trying to attend courses at the school, reporting harassment, threats and being followed through the premises since the Hamas-led massacre that took place in Israel on October 7th.

Among the participants, Antifa was observed, along with other radical activists attempting to disrupt reporting and block cameras. It appears that these individuals are affluent, privileged young people who may lack understanding of the issues they are protesting and are virtue signalling on their parents' dime.

https://twitter.com/guillaum3roy/status/1784373093021941937 

Earlier this week, Rebel News Commander Ezra Levant covered the encampment at New York's Columbia University, where he witnessed firsthand the students' lack of dialogue with the press. 

How long will McGill allow this protest to continue? How will it ensure the safety of its Jewish students as they try to attend their studies? And how will the Montreal police treat these protesters in comparison to how they treated anti-lockdown protests during the pandemic?

The answer to these questions will become clear as the protest continues, now entering its third day on Monday, April 29.

Alexandra Lavoie

Quebec based Journalist

Alexa graduated with a degree in biology from Laval University. Throughout her many travels, she has seen political instability as well as corruption. While she witnessed social disorder on a daily basis, she has always been a defender of society’s most vulnerable. She’s been around the world several times, and now joins Rebel News to shed light on today’s biggest stories.

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