Campus in Conflict: Navigating a Tense Return to McGill University

The month of September, which marks the return to school, is for many synonymous with school bags, pencils and books. For students attending McGill University, the start of the school year this year is a bit different. In recent months, the establishment has been at the centre of several mobilizations and controversies. A pro-Palestinian camp established on university grounds, a hunger strike, numerous student demonstrations, demands for injunctions from the university... Today, when you cross the Roddick Gate, the tension is palpable.

It's impossible not to notice the security guards all over the field. The grass is green and fresh, and several trees stand on the muddy ground where, a few weeks ago, dozens of tents were set up.

Today, despite multiplying student protests, the administration is struggling to be accountable.

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“I am nervous about what's to come in October”

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A few steps from the main campus, well hidden between the trees and the facade of the tall buildings on Peel Street, is Café Plezl. Its particularity is that only kosher food is used there.

When you enter, you immediately notice the large menu featuring various Mediterranean cuisines and a few books written in Hebrew on the wall shelves. The sun's rays penetrate and illuminate the room despite its location in the basement.

It's Wednesday, August 28, and it's the official first day of school for the McGill student community. The café is full, and there we meet David*, who is entering his second year studying economics.

Kippa on his head and Star of David around his neck, he proudly shows his Jewish identity. “I am proud of who I am and I am not afraid to show it,” he assures, taking a seat around one of the many tables in the place. However, in recent months, he has not felt as comfortable as before.

“I am not fooled. I get a lot of glances, I know that sometimes some people are not comfortable with my presence”, he confides. Emotional, he tells us that he is apprehensive about going back to class. “It's a difficult time for everyone. And I feel like the university should do more to protect students who live at the centre of the tensions,” he says.

What disappoints the student is that his school is trying to compromise with those who, in his opinion, should not be surveyed. “McGill should not even try to negotiate with those who set up the camp. Why is the university trying to compromise?” A reference to the various attempts at talks that took place between the administration and the organizers of the pro-Palestinian camp established on the grounds of the institution over several months.

According to him, this camp, where Palestinian liberation songs were heard, represented a threat to his Jewish identity. “I have a lot of family in Israel. I just came back from there, by the way. I have spoken to survivors of the October 7 attack, and when I see people at my school hanging a puppet with the image of the Jewish head of state in a striped uniform, I am concerned.” Here he talks about the discovery of a puppet with a photo of Benjamin Netanyahu's face stuck on it that was hanged in front of the university entrance. It was dressed in a black and white striped uniform, reminiscent of that of concentration camp inmates.

David is looking forward to the school year that has just begun, especially October 7. “I have a feeling it will be exhausting. I am not really afraid of pro-Palestinian activists, but it is tiring to go to campus every day and see antisemitic sentences written on every wall.” A reference, in particular, to the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which he considers to be antisemitic, “because it does not recognize Israel's place in the territory of the Middle East.”

Above all, David hopes that the start of the school year will not be violent. “I just want to go to school, be a normal student and not be afraid of being looked at because of my kippah,” he concludes with a sigh of fatigue.

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Worried students

On the Montreal campus, we meet many students who are preparing for their first courses. It's the start of a new adventure, or a return home — which is the case for Kalinga, who is entering her fourth year at university.

For the kinesiology student, this school year is, at first glance, normal. But even though she expects academic routine to prevail, she is worried that the tension on campus will prevent her from completing her year.

Kalinga has been closely following the events of the past year, even though she attended her courses remotely. “I was not always on campus, but I felt touched by the events. Every time my school was mentioned in the media, it was for the same reasons. Now that the camp has been dismantled, I fear that some students will be even more frustrated than last year,” she explains.

“I just hope to be able to finish the year without any problems,” she said, referring to the numerous protests she saw every week last year.

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Resumption of mobilizations

Indeed, since the end of August, students have been mobilizing and already organizing rallies in favour of their respective causes. This is the case with Katz*, who participated in one of the rallies organized two days later.

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So on August 30, around dinner time, the first Walk out** of the school year is started. A hundred students gathered in front of the James Administration Building, where the administration and secretariat of the institution sit.

Katz is one of the Jewish students studying at McGill. She assures that the objective of this demonstration is not to point the finger at the Jewish community, of which she is a part.

A member of the McGill chapter of Independent Jewish Voices, the young woman believes that it is imperative that the administration take activists' demands seriously. “We are several organizations coming together on the same point: the boycott and divestment of millions of dollars from the university in businesses that are directly or indirectly involved in the massacre in Gaza,” she says through the red keffiyeh that covers her face. She is firm: “The administration must hear us. It won't be able to keep ignoring us for long.”

“Students who are not comfortable with our actions do not have to listen to us, but should listen to the law,” she continues. “We want to study in a school where transparency, communication and accountability are at the heart of our relationships, both with the administration and with other students,” she says.

The student still does not understand why, despite all the attempts at discussion, the management did not respond to requests from the organizations Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and Independent Jewish Voices, which “have persisted for months in talking with a wall,” she believes.

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Mistrust reigns

While Katz, like many students, is feeling frustrated, others are anxious. As the second week of classes begins at McGill, it is difficult to find members of the Palestinian community ready to talk about their concerns.

The students we met who are active in the Palestinian cause are afraid, they say. Their faces twitched as soon as we suggested an interview. Clearly, many are reluctant to talk to the media.

Where does this distrust come from? “It doesn't come out of nowhere,” Salma*, a student we met on campus, tells us. She limits the information she shares with us about it — “for the sake of security,” she explains to us right away.

“Now more than ever, students no longer trust anyone, especially journalists or people who represent a political or academic institution,” Salma continues.

The fear of sanctions from the institution has something to do with it: “Nobody knows what can happen to them if they appear somewhere or speak publicly.”

This fear does not come out of nowhere. Last June, the administration sent the entire student community a Communiqué in which it declared that “the persons [who participated in the camp] will be subject to all the sanctions prescribed by the school policy.” This decision followed the refusal of an offer of mediation offered earlier by the university.

In this press release, the institution also expressed its “willingness to explore the legal measures available to [it] to recover the costs associated with the damage [it has] suffered.”

“We don't know if the administration will punish people who speak up. People are afraid because they don't want to see their school career go up in smoke because of a statement they might make to the media or police, for example, says Salma. All of that is pressure, and that makes us tired.”

On the other hand, the presence of security guards on campus gives the impression of being “constantly under surveillance,” she continues.

She is aware that since she started wearing a keffiyeh, attention has been focused on her at school. She says she feels observed. “As if they were analyzing all my actions,” she says. She even realized one day that someone was filming her. “When I set foot on campus, I sometimes get followed and filmed by other people.”

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Demands that persist

However, Salma is far from being the only one wearing a keffiyeh. Near the Palestinian flag displayed at the entrance to the campus, some students proudly wear theirs, and some use it to cover their faces. Again, very few want to talk. “I don't want to say too much, but I can tell you that I am very frustrated,” says Nesrine*.

The student is beginning her final year of university. Despite the little information she is willing to share about her, we learn that she is of Lebanese origin and that she actively campaigns for Palestinian rights.

“The more time goes by, the more annoyed I am,” she tells us. "McGill does not listen to its students. Until when are we going to have to keep chanting that we disagree with the administration?" she asks, gasping for breath.

As we stroll alongside her along the central campus trail, she shares a bit more. She is active in the pro-Palestinian movement, which has been growing in the city since last October. She believes that it is necessary to “educate the next generations of students so that the next administrations do not do the same thing.”

In a more than firm tone, the young Montreal woman affirms the following: “Let's be clear: you cannot remain silent. We can't participate in what our school does. You can't do nothing when you see that our money is being used to finance a war machine like Israel,” she said, referring to the tuition fees paid by the students.

Nesrine is convinced that, if the university does not respond to the demands of the demonstrators, the tension will only increase. Moreover, she is not the only one who thinks so. Even several days after the Walk Out on August 30, students again showed up in front of the university's administration building to shout pro-Palestinian slogans in front of security agents.

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No news, bad news?

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Shocked by several students, the university administration refused to make any comment about the tension that persists on campus. The administration, which did not want to answer our questions, referred us to the press releases issued a few days earlier.

The Dean of the school, Deep Saini, underlines the “enthusiastic and lively” nature of the start of the school year. He makes little mention of the tensions that remain there and rather mentions a new school year that is taking place against the background of “various difficulties in Quebec, Canada and elsewhere in the world, which have a direct impact on the university and the members of its community.”

Last July, the Dean asked the student body to engage in peaceful dialogue. He described the university as a “laboratory of ideas” where “teaching, learning, and research activities (...) must take place in an environment conducive to open, and respectful discussions, even on the most difficult topics.”

It remains to be seen how the university plans to ensure a climate conducive to candid discussions.

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*The first name has been changed in order to preserve the anonymity of the students whose testimonies we have collected.

**A Student Walk Out occurs when students leave their course at the same time in order to express dissatisfaction with a particular cause.

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