McGill University is before the court Monday to seek an injunction to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on its downtown Montreal campus since last month.
The protesters first assembled dozens of tents on the lower grounds of the school on April 27. The move came amid a wave of similar demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas conflict on campuses across the United States.
McGill says the encampment poses a “security, safety and public health risk.” In a judicial application filed last Friday, it said the encampment has caused tensions to escalate on campus.
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The university’s filing points to “fierce verbal exchanges” between protesters and counter-protesters in early May, barrels of possible “human waste” on site, and possible fire code breaches. McGill also cites the encampment’s potential as a “magnet” for further clashes with counterdemonstrators.
Lawyers for the university are also asking the court to authorize Montreal police to assist in dismantling the encampment if called upon.
The pro-Palestinian protesters are demanding that McGill divest from companies they say are complicit in what they describe as Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and that the university cut ties with Israeli institutions.
After news broke last Friday that McGill planned to take the issue to court, activists condemned the university’s “shameful move.”
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protesters say they’ve set up a new encampment at the Université du Québec à Montréal, a French-language university in Montreal.
— with files from Global’s Annabelle Olivier and The Canadian Press
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