Montreal police remove pro-Israel protesters from McGill University campus (2024)

Tensions escalated at McGill University on Friday as Montreal police intervened in a confrontation between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters.

Pro-Palestinian protesters have been camping at the university since April 27, despite two attempts — one by students and one by McGill — to have a court order the removal of the encampment.

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Two pro-Israeli protesters, holding signs reading “We witnessed Oct. 7. Ask us anything,” arrived on campus on Friday, accompanied by private security guards.

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The pro-Israel protesters’ reference to Oct. 7 pertains to the Hamas attack in Israel, which killed at least 1,200 people. In response, Israel has launched military action in Gaza, killing approximately 35,000 people so far, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The two groups of protesters faced off at one point, with the pro-Palestinian protesters leading chants, before police escorted the pro-Israel group off the campus.

Rudy Rochman, one of the pro-Israel protesters and a well-known Israeli activist, was seen being escorted off campus by two police officers, each holding one of his arms.

“I was told that if I stayed on the campus, I’d be arrested, and I told them I’m not resisting arrest, but I should not have to move,” Rochman said. “They said, ‘We’re going to have to physically force and remove you.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”

He added: “They have a right to be here. I should have a right to be here as well.”

A Montreal police spokesperson confirmed their presence but denied using physical force, stating that the police had invited one of the protesters to leave and the others left voluntarily.

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The pro-Israeli protesters relocated outside McGill property, positioning themselves just beyond the Roddick Gates, which were subsequently shut.

When asked why the pro-Israel protesters were removed and not the pro-Palestinian protesters, the officer said, “I don’t have an answer. I know that there was tension between the two groups.”

Police said no arrests were made.

Rochman said they had come to the campus to “engage in dialogue” with the pro-Palestinian protesters and “expose certain voices… riding on Palestinian struggle to be against Israel and denying things like what happened on Oct. 7.”

Independent Jewish Voices representative Olivia Katz, a McGill student involved in the encampment, refuted the claim that the camp denies the events of Oct. 7, but said it happened “within a broader context.”

She said, however, that the camp would not engage in dialogue with the protesters, as from her experience, “I would not say it ever resolves anything and never ends up changing anybody’s mind.”

The tensions at the school escalated as the pro-Palestinian encampment neared its fourth week on McGill’s downtown campus. The campers have stated they will remain until the university divests from companies with links to Israel.

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On Friday, Katz declined to disclose whether the university and the encampment had resumed talks. Last week, she said that discussions had “ceased” after McGill filed an injunction request to have the camp removed.

After a Quebec judge ruled against McGill’s provisional injunction request to clear the camp earlier in the week, the university announced on Friday it is seeking an interlocutory injunction.

The pro-Israel protesters remained outside the university gates for a couple of hours before leaving. By Friday evening, the school’s Roddick gates had reopened.

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