Pro-Palestine McGill students organize rally against court safeguard

The Quebec superior court ordered a safeguard on Tuesday, November 27th that prevented the McGill student union from adopting a pro-Palestine policy. This policy called on McGill University to cut ties with people, corporations and institutions that are "complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians."  

The policy criticizes the university and comments from McGill officials around Palestine and Israel, saying that they come off as threats toward students that have shown support for Palestine. 

An anonymous student at McGill issued an injunction which led to the court challenge and stopped the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) from adopting this policy. This student has expressed their support for Israel, and is also seeking $125,000 in damages.They have mentioned they no longer feel safe on campus at McGill and received threats on social media.  

About 35 per cent of eligible students voted in the referendum Monday. 5,974 students out of the 8,401 students who voted were in favour of the policy. 1,620 students voted against it and 807 abstained.

McGill students and community members gathered on Thursday, November 30th to rally against this court order and speak out against the University’s effort to suppress their movement. 

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill (SPHR), a pro-Palestine student group, told CBC that the court order sets a "dangerous precedent for student democracy and undermines the supposedly democratic structure of Canadian institutions."

Last year, McGill also warned the student union from adopting "contentious" policies about Palestinians and even threatened to cut funding. 

A spokesperson for the university said in a statement last week that McGill administration maintains that the latest policy, if adopted, will "sharpen divisions in our community at a time when many students are already distressed."