some concordia, dawson students set to strike over israel-hamas war
tens of thousands of students expected to be out of classrooms this week, with pro-palestinian protests planned over the israel-hamas war.
4 minute read
about 300 demonstrators march down ste-catherine st. from concordia university to mcgill university on saturday afternoon, may 4, 2024, in support of the students and protesters manning the pro-palestinian encampment.
allen mcinnis
/
montreal gazette
some cegep and university students are planning to boycott classes for part of this week over the israel-hamas war. students in several concordia departments are set to strike on thursday and friday, with others scheduled to hold votes in the coming days. organizers are calling on the school to “divest from israeli apartheid.”
protesters also want concordia to drop “the suspensions and tribunals against students (involved in previous demonstrations), and stop collaborating with the police to harass and surveil people on campus.”
via social media, concordia history, sociology, anthropology and geography student associations have said they will strike. students in fine arts and some other departments have yet to vote.
students are expected to picket at concordia. “switching classes to online, holding class in an alternate location, or having assignments due during the strike is considered to be crossing the picket line,” the history students association said.
concordia spokesperson vannina maestracci said the university “respects students’ right to express themselves, but those who choose to strike must also respect their peers who wish to attend classes.”
she said the university is not repressing student activism, noting several protests have occurred in recent months. “we will however not tolerate criminal acts such as physical assaults, violence or intimidation on our campus,” maestracci said.
advertisement
pending a tribunal hearing, temporary suspensions can be imposed when a student violates concordia’s policies and “their behaviour is deemed to pose a risk to the community or … are of such a serious nature that they create an intimidating and hostile environment,” she added.
some université de québec à montréal students have also voted to strike. at mcgill, votes are scheduled this week.
tens of thousands of students may walk out, aiming to persuade “institutions, corporations, the federal government and the provincial government to sever all ties with israel,” the coalition de résistance pour l’unité étudiante syndicale said monday.
among the actions planned is a friday afternoon march in downtown montreal.
at dawson, a vote held by the dawson student union approved a one-day strike to be held thursday in “solidarity with students facing repression and the genocide in gaza.”
the student union said 447 students voted in favour of the strike, with 247 voting against.
dawson’s jewish student association had urged a no vote.
in an email to students last week, dawson said thursday will be a “regular school day.”
“the college values the importance of education and encourages all students to fully engage in their learning opportunities,” the school said.
advertisement
“at the same time, the college is committed to fostering a safe and respectful environment for everyone. if any concerns about safety arise, this situation will be reassessed.”
jewish groups, including hillel montreal and the centre for israel and jewish affairs (cija), last week condemned a post by dawson’s muslim student association (msa).
“to those considering a no vote … know that your vote cannot alter the destiny that awaits the zionist entity,” the msa said in a social media post that urged students to support the strike.
“efforts to obstruct justice will be in vain. the liberation of all the islamic homeland is inevitable … history will bear witness to the triumph of islam. remember hittin.”
it was a reference to a 12th-century battle described by the encyclopaedia britannica as having “marked the defeat and annihilation of the christian crusader armies by the muslim forces of saladin. it paved the way for the muslim reconquest of the city of jerusalem.”
the cija described it as a “threatening message, linking the vote to the ‘the liberation of the lands of islam’ and saladin’s victory against the crusaders at hittin. this is an explicit attempt to intimidate all dawson students, not just jewish students, and should be condemned.”
advertisement
an msa spokesperson told the gazette that the part of the post in question was taken down because “some people might perceive it not in the way that we wanted it to be perceived.”
he said: “it was not a threat, not at all. we mentioned saladin, a historical hero. he was admired for his justice and noble character, even by his enemies. he was respected by everyone.”
students at some french cegeps have also voted to strike on thursday and friday, including at collège de maisonneuve in montreal.
at collège lionel-groulx, north of montreal, the student association says it plans to block entrances to the school’s buildings starting at 6:15 a.m. on thursday and friday to pressure the administration to cancel classes.
“if they hold a picket line in front of the cegep on the mornings of nov. 21 and 22 with a significant number of students, the cegep will have to suspend classes for the day,” said spokesperson julie loyer. however, school buildings would remain open, she said.
share story
