More than 150 students walked out of classes and gathered in front of the James Administration Building at 1 p.m. on Aug. 30 to protest McGill’s complicity in the genocide of Palestinians and to demand divestment from companies and academic institutions with financial ties to the Israeli military. Protestors filed into the lobby of the Macdonald Engineering Building, where speakers highlighted the Faculty of Engineering’s ties to weapons manufacturing—such as the computational fluid dynamics laboratory, which is funded by arms industry companies Bell Flight and Lockheed Martin. Students ended the walkout by taking to Lower Field, where the Palestine Solidarity Encampment had stood for 75 days from Apr. 27 to July 10 this summer.

Protestors removed tape and signage stating that entry to the area was closed, which the university put in place while the university oversaw the decontamination of the field following the encampment’s dismantlement. 

“We stand here today to make a statement that we are taking back our campus,” a speaker declared to the crowd on Lower Field. “We fund this university. We have a say in what our university is complicit in [….] You must carry this into your own faculty. You must carry this into every class. Boycott, sanction, and divest now.”

Protestors then turned over squares of sod from the field and stood around the patch of exposed dirt, chanting and waving Palestinian flags. During the walkout, speakers condemned McGill’s reactions to the encampment, such as filing an injunction in an attempt to remove it and ultimately hiring the private security company Sirco to dismantle it. McGill had covered up the exposed area with sod by roughly 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 30. As of Sept. 3, the tape and signage restricting access to the Lower Field has not been reinstated. 

In an email to The Tribune, McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) stated that the university respects students’ right to freedom of expression, but that it will intervene when behaviour violates their policies or the law. In an update on the McGill Campus Public Safety website, the university stated that the walkout’s disruption of classes in Macdonald Engineering and its removal of grass on the Lower Field constituted a violation of these regulations and unacceptable behaviour. The university called the police to campus to intervene in the walkout at around 2:50 p.m., when protestors first began turning over squares of sod.

“Vandalism is not a legitimate expression of one’s free speech rights and McGill condemns such acts,” MRO wrote. “Our first priority has been and remains the safety and well-being of every member of our community. As such, the university is working to ensure an environment where every member of our community feels welcomed, recognized and capable of sharing views without fear of retribution, regardless of who they are or what perspectives they hold.”

In a statement on July 10, McGill President Deep Saini noted that the university dismantled the encampment after the administration had “worked assiduously for weeks and exhausted all other options to end this occupation of the Lower Field.” Saini cited the presence of individuals from outside the McGill community at the encampment, health and safety threats such as a lack of fire escapes, and the increased vandalism on campus as key reasons for its removal. 

Sam,* a student from Concordia and an organizer of the event, explained that the protestors’ route sought to draw the attention of both the administration and other students.

“We started at [James Administration] to get the message through,” they said. “And then [we kept walking] so that all the students can see what’s happening, and all the students—especially the new students—can see what they’re getting into, who [McGill’s] President is, and what the organization [McGill] is.”

McGill student and representative of the event Alex* explained to The Tribune that the timing of the walkout for the beginning of a new term was also strategic, as it aimed to reinforce students’ sustained commitment to pressuring the university to cut ties with the Israeli state.

“It’s to show that we’re still here, that we’re still ready to protest for what’s right, and that we won’t let McGill’s student repression stop us from continuing to protest,” Alex said. 

They added that the student support of the walkout was a testament to the widespread solidarity amongst those pressuring McGill to divest. 

“It shows that we’re not a minority, there’s a lot of us here who feel that what McGill is doing is wrong,” Alex said. “We will keep protesting until we get our demands met.”

Sam noted that the day was also “very symbolic,” as it marks one week since a student confronted McGill President Deep Saini on campus about police presence on site in response to student activism for Palestine. Since March 28, there have been several arrests of protestors for Palestine on campus, including 15 at the occupation of the James Administration Building on June 6. During the Aug. 22 exchange, recorded and posted to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at McGill’s Instagram account, Saini appears to reach toward the student filming and is held back by one of his team members.

McGill did not offer comment on this incident. 

Among the students attending the walkout were five student contingents from McGill and beyond: SPHR Concordia, Law Students 4 Palestine at McGill, Independent Jewish Voices McGill, the World Islamic and Middle East Studies Students’ Association at McGill University, and Cegep4Palestine.

A Dawson College student attending the walkout with Al Raya Dawson who wished to remain unnamed told The Tribune that they joined the walkout both to demand change from McGill and to inspire other Cegep students to support the cause.

“We’re here to show that Cegeps are in the fight and the resistance of the genocide in Palestine and that we’re just as interested as all the universities to get the demands that we want,” the Dawson student said. “I think it shows that the youth is involved, it is invested in the cause, and that we want other Cegeps to take part as well.”

A McGill student at the walkout—who wished to be unnamed—criticized the university’s removal of the encampment and their response to student protests for Palestine over the summer. They also reaffirmed the value of protest in creating change, citing McGill’s divestment from the South African apartheid in 1985 in response to extensive student activism for the cause.

“If we, as students, can dictate where our money is going in terms of tuition, I think we should also be able to dictate […] where McGill can invest their money,” the McGill student said. “I do have faith that eventually they will divest. McGill was one of the first universities in Canada to divest from South Africa’s apartheid. If people keep protesting, eventually we can get there.”

*Sam and Alex’s names have been changed to preserve their anonymity.