Concordia student groups denounce administration after far-right outlet appears on campus

University says it was unaware Rebel News reporter was invited on campus

NewsSamuel Kayll — Published December 17, 2025 0 minutes

The Concordia Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) unanimously passed a motion at a Nov. 27 regular council meeting condemning the university and urging Concordia to prevent Rebel News, a prominent Canadian far-right media organization, from being on campus again in the future. 

The motion came after Concordia Israeli club StartUp Nation invited self-described Muslim Zionist and Yemeni journalist Luai Ahmed onto campus on Nov. 17 for a tabling event. According to an email ASFA sent to Concordia administrators on Nov. 19, Rebel News reporter Alexandra Lavoie was in attendance at the event and recorded it with a 360-degree camera.

Concordia Student Union (CSU) academic and advocacy coordinator Vanessa Massot addressed StartUp Nation’s disruptive campus history, including inviting past unapproved guests like Yoseph Haddad, a former Israel Defense Forces soldier.

“Not only is this a repeated behaviour from this specific group, but also it's something that we have repeatedly flagged to the administration,” Massot said. “And it's something that they not only refuse to acknowledge, but also refuse to do anything about it.”

Following the event, Students for Palestine's Honour and Resistance (SPHR) and Academics and Staff for Palestine (AS4P) published an Instagram post criticizing Concordia for its inaction.

“The administration is complicit in the proliferation of Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism on campus, on top of its support for the genocide in Palestine,” the post said.

In a statement from Concordia, deputy spokesperson Julie Fortier stated that the university did not authorize Rebel News to be on campus on Nov. 17. 

“In fact, we understand the person there was invited by a student group recognized by the CSU,” Fortier said in an email to The Link. “We were not made aware of the invitation or of their presence on the mezzanine and we do not know if this person was there representing Rebel News or in a personal capacity.”

This failure to report directly violates Concordia’s policy on filming and photography on university premises. Under Article 2, news journalists filming on campus are exempt from the traditional requests for the use of university premises. However, they must still obtain permission from Concordia's media relations team.

Concordia did not respond to a request for comment on its stance on Rebel News.

A member of SPHR Concordia, granted anonymity for fear of academic repercussions, called Rebel News’ content “rabidly Islamophobic, antisemitic and blatantly xenophobic.”

“Allowing such disgrace on campus is not only normalizing the rhetorics they use but also pushes them to expand it,” they said. 

For Adam Semergian, ASFA academic coordinator, Rebel News’ history of Islamophobia makes its presence even more problematic. He addressed Concordia’s response to pro-Palestinian activism and reaction to Islamophobia as an example.

“Concordia has been pretty blatant that they're only going to enforce these policies against Palestinian activists,” Semergian said. “It's pretty clear that because this is affecting pro-Palestinian activists, it's also probably in the future gonna affect activists on campus for other events, issues and topics."

Massot similarly criticized what they described as Concordia’s reluctance to condemn StartUp Nation’s actions.

“Unfortunately, that results in the university being complicit in creating a climate of Islamophobia, and I think it's such a shame,” Massot said.

The SPHR member addressed the Concordia administration, calling out the university for what they call a neglect of student voices and input. 

“Whether they like it or not, their student body is fundamentally not aligned with them on decolonial issues such as the Palestinian cause,” they said. “The Palestinian student movement is here to change that, and two years later, the administration is still not able to stop it.”