SASU votes to strike for Palestine

SASU will join geography students in mobilizing between Nov. 21 and Nov. 22

NewsBrief Maria Cholakova — Published November 7, 2024 0 minutes

The strike is in solidarity with Palestine and the Cops off Campus movement across campuses in Montreal. 

This comes at a time when students say an atmosphere of fear is fostered at Concordia University due to the heightened presence of SPVM and Concordia Safety and Prevention Services (CSPS) officers on campus. It also comes following the arrest of four students on campus during demonstrations, two during a pro-Palestine rally on Sept. 25 and two during a “Cops off Campus” demonstration on Oct. 31. 

The start of the GA’s four-point agenda consisted of by-law updates, which took up the first hour of the meeting. Soon after, students voted on whether or not they wanted to strike in solidarity with Palestine. 

The strike mandate will only come into effect if any four other student associations across Montreal adopt a similar mandate. 

The strike motion called for the university to fully disclose and divest from financial investments and ties with Israel and end partnerships with Lockheed Martin, CAE, Pratt & Whitney, Airbus and Bombardier. 

According to the GA motion, another goal of the strike is to embolden SASU to put pressure on the university to issue a public statement condemning the ongoing genocides across the globe and for the university to sever academic ties with universities complicit in human rights abuses. 

Lastly, SASU also motioned for several changes on campus. These include the university severing its relationship with the SPVM and demanding CSPS to abolish practices like following students off campus, coordinating responses with police prior to political demonstrations, and facilitating police brutality and arrests instead of de-escalation. 

The motion passed unanimously. 

Currently, only one other Concordia association, the Geography Undergraduate Student Society (GUSS), has joined the strike, but more student associations are meeting in the upcoming weeks.

Notably, the Urban Planning Association, the School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association, the Concordia University Psychology Association, the Students of History at Concordia, and the Women's Studies and Sexuality Studies Association will meet to discuss a potential strike vote. Student associations across Montreal have also decided to hold assemblies to vote to strike for Palestine. 

Whether SASU will use a hard or soft picketing strategy has not yet been decided as students opted to vote on mobilization strategies at a later meeting. However, many students present at the GA raised concerns about how Concordia’s increased security will affect picketers.