Over 1000 students walk out for divestment on the anniversary of Oct. 7
The walkout ended with riot police forcefully pushing and tear-gassing student protesters
On the afternoon of Oct. 7, students, activists and academics walked out of classes and gathered outside the Henry F. Hall building, surrounded by an army of more than 80 SPVM officers, over a dozen Sûreté du Québec (SQ) officers and campus security.
The student walkout’s organizers, the Concordia and McGill contingents of Solidarity for Palestinian Honour and Resistance (SPHR), called for Concordia and McGill to disclose and divest their investments in Israeli companies and end their university partnerships in genocide.
The demonstration was organized in the wake of increasing Israeli terrorism, invasion and occupation of Palestine and Lebanon as Oct. 7 marks another year of genocide and resistance against Israeli human rights abuses.
As of Oct. 3, nearly 42,000 have been killed in Gaza with almost 100,000 injured according to the Palestinian-Ministry of Health. Air strikes in major cities and in the capital of Beirut have killed around 2,000 people and injured nearly 10,000 in Lebanon.
According to a Lancet study, the death toll could be nearly 200,000 in Gaza due to the fact that official tolls do not take into account the thousands buried under rubble and indirect deaths due to the loss of health facilities, food distribution systems, public infrastructure, starvation, malnourishment and disease.
Both Concordia and McGill Universities put out statements in anticipation of the Oct. 7 walkout, outlining changes in university guidelines and an increase of police presence on both campuses.
Dozens of officers blocked the intersection of Boul. de Maisonneuve and Bishops St. to separate Palestinian activists from a small Zionist counterprotest. Around 3 p.m., the crowd of students began marching to McGill University.
Concordia student, former general coordinator of SPHR Concordia and current member of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Zeyad Abisaab, shared that Oct. 7 marks an important moment in anti-colonial and anti-imperial history.
“Mainstream media and any actors that serve the private interest and the Zionist interest seek to remove the rights of the Palestinian people to resist occupation and colonialism. They seek that the Palestinian people suffer in silence so that their entire existence is wiped off the map without them saying a peep,” Abisaab said. “This anniversary is an anniversary of the Palestinian people breaking the colonial wall and standing up for the liberation of Palestine.”
He expressed his support and pride for growing community mobilization against Israel in the past year.
Abisaab noted the difference in turnout and frequency of protests before and after Oct. 7. “It is a huge achievement, it has politicized the people of Montreal and Quebec. The power that the students have built is unbreakable, the students remain undeterred,” he said.
Police presence continued to multiply as the march grew; as tactical forces, riot squadrons, cavalry and bicycle forces monitored and pushed against the crowd.
Abisaab raised concerns regarding police and private security repression of students on both McGill and Concordia campuses, and their repeated assaults, abuses and arrests of students.
“Although [the police] claim to protect and serve the public, their interests and their protection always align with the private interest, in this case, the Zionist interest,” Abisaab stated. “They are not here to assure McGill or Concordia student security, but rather the security of the investments of the university and their investment portfolio.”
“This anniversary is an anniversary of the Palestinian people breaking the colonial wall and standing up for the liberation of Palestine.” — - Zeyad Abisaab
Protester and student activist Yusuf, who was granted last name anonymity for safety reasons, expressed similar concerns, calling for police presence to be removed from campus spaces.
“Having police presence in universities makes students feel unsafe. These are educational grounds where we are supposed to study. We have the freedom of speech, the freedom to protest and I don’t think police should be intervening on university grounds,” he stated.
After marching down St-Catherine St., the walkout eventually climbed the hill up Doctor Penfield Ave and onto Ave des Pins West, reaching the McGill campus area where around 1,000 protesters were now marching.
Upon the arrival at McGill University, protesters opened and rushed out of the gates followed by over a dozen police officers in riot gear who closed the gates behind the protesters.
Protesters then marched up to 505 Ave des Pins Ouest, a building owned by McGill that is currently under construction. Speakers addressed the crowd and claimed that the building will be named after Sylvan Adams, a multi-millionaire investor of the university who SPHR claims donates money to the Israel Defense Forces. The speaker then called for protesters to take their “rage out on the building.”
Some protesters then began damaging McGill property using metal rods and bricks to break windows and cans of spray paint to tag red triangles, a symbol that has become synonymous with the Palestinian liberation movement.
The symbolic destruction was disrupted by over a dozen riot police and officers on bikes that began pushing protesters down Ave des Pins and, eventually, down Park Ave.
SPVM officers used tear gas, physical force and verbal abuse to disperse the crowd. No arrests were made.
Four days prior to the walkout, Concordia released a statement to the Concordia community via email, in anticipation of Oct. 7.
The email highlighted that Concordia would increase security during the week of Oct. 7, hold meetings with student leaders to place “particular emphasis on regulations governing civil discourse and peaceful protest on campus”, and “continue to seek police involvement when necessary.”
“I met with Graham Carr almost a year ago and I explained to him that students will never feel safe and there will always be unrest on campus if Concordia is invested and partnered with weapons companies, genocidal regimes, colonial projects, and maintaining partnerships with institutions that promote the current genocide in Gaza,” Abisaab stated in response to these messages.
Abisaad isn’t the only one concerned with the university’s increase in security.
Concordia Geography Professor Ted Rutland shared his concerns with the university’s recent statements, in particular to an email sent out by Concordia President Graham Carr’s on Sept. 30. In it, Carr called for a community of calm and respectful exchange, non-violence, non-intimidation, anti-hate and respecting the Concordia Code of Rights and Responsibilities in light of recent protests.
Rutland explained his frustration with the ambiguity in the wording of the administration’s message, specifically the implicit equivocation of graffiti with intimidation and hate.
“I haven’t seen them name any acts that were hateful or intimidating,” he said. “This makes it very hard for us, we’re trying to create a community that is respectful, open and can have difficult discussions without hate and intimidation when a bunch of things are getting labelled that.”
Rutland added that, now over a year since Oct. 7, 2023, the university has not divested from any of its current holdings and has yet to disclose all of its investments.
“What could it possibly mean for a Palestinian student to come to this university every day for the last year and see no movement from the university to withdraw its support for Israel? That creates a very uncomfortable environment for Palestinian students, as well as many other students who feel connected to that country, to that genocide,” he said.
The Oct. 7 demonstration followed an independent walkout led by autonomous students which took place on Sept. 25, which led to three arrests of Concordia students, who were later suspended by Concordia, without tribunal, according to an open letter published by Concordia against tribunals (CAT). CAT has condemned Concordia's use of the SPVM on campus and demands the university allow the students back on university grounds.
Despite police and university repression, Abisaab and Rutland remain steadfast in continuing the current momentum of the solidarity movement.
“What I have seen in the last year is a tremendous amount of bravery, brilliance, and dedication on the part of Concordia students as well as students at other universities. I feel incredibly privileged to share university with these students, I admire them and I learn from them constantly. It is a dream to be on their side on a day like this,” Rutland said.
Abisaab noted the increased participation of the Lebanese community and organizations on campus in the city standing together to support Lebanon, Palestine and the surrounding areas in the fight against imperialism and colonialism.
“This adds another dimension to the student movement and it helps it grow tremendously. The more war expands, the more genocide expands, the more people will remain steadfast, united and strong. Just like Concordia's repression and its policing on campus grows, the more students remain steadfast and united,” he stated.
