On April 27th, 2024, I turned on my phone after Shabbat to find a message confirming what had long felt inevitable—an encampment had been set up at my school, McGill University. With all the student walkouts, Palestine Liberation Month, hunger strikes, and die-ins, I was hardly surprised when the encampment trend reached my campus.
What stunned me is that it would turn out to be the second-longest-standing encampment in North America, bringing 74 days of essentially unrestricted disruption.
Over those 10+ weeks, I watched as the encampment grew unimpeded. Nearly every day, I received an email from McGill “updating” me on the situation. In reality, though, they all seemed to say the same thing: “We’re sorry, but we can’t do anything”. Even as instances of undeniable antisemitism came to light, including the establishment of a pro-terror summer camp for local children reminiscent of Hamas-run indoctrination programs and a violent takeover of the administration building, McGill and the Montreal police did nothing.
The dismantling of the encampment on July 10th did not bring respite from this chaos. One year later, the impact of the encampment remains evident, shaping campus life, school policy, and public discourse.
In early November 2024, the Student Society (SSMU) attempted to institute an antisemitism policy, declaring that the genocidal chant “from the river to the sea” or paying “disproportionate” attention to Israel does not qualify as antisemitism. This framing effectively dismissed the common concern among Jewish students that such rhetoric is threatening or exclusionary. By denying the antisemitic impact of this language, the policy sought to normalize the hateful language that is all too common on McGill’s campus. In doing so, it risks fostering an environment where Jewish students feel increasingly unsafe, unheard, and marginalized.
No Jewish organizations other than the explicitly pro-Palestinian group, Independent Jewish Voices, supported the policy.
Although the policy was initially rejected after a hearing where students from Chabad, Hillel, and Students Supporting Israel had the chance to voice their concerns, the effort was in vain. Less than a month later, the motion was quietly passed—this time without prior notice to Jewish Groups.
That same month, the Quebec Superior Court suspended the motion, citing a violation of the SSMU’s constitution. Yet, four months later, on April 9th, 2025, after some slight editing and artful wordsmithing, the student union pushed the policy through once again, leaving Jewish students, myself included, feeling ignored and unprotected.
Those four months, essentially the entirety of the second semester, offered no break from the rising hostility. The physical reminders of the hatred toward Israel and Jews were inescapable on campus: 30 smashed windows in McGill’s largest building. While the blood-red “free Gaza” and an inverted triangle(a symbol used by Hamas to indicate targets) had been mostly scrubbed off, shattered glass and boarded-up windows were still there two months later.
Arrests, suspensions, and expulsions have yet to be made, epitomizing McGill and law enforcement’s inability or refusal to hold their students accountable for the destruction of property and the promotion of violent ideologies.
It was not until after the April 4th Student Strike for Palestine that McGill took action.
That day, students and professors were physically blocked from entering their classes and others were barricaded inside lecture halls and classrooms by protestors carrying signs—all as chants rang out in support of a group responsible for murder, kidnapping, rape, and other horrific acts.
It was not until this April 4th student strike that McGill finally felt compelled to act. During the protest, demonstrators broke into the Dean of Engineering’s office, assaulting a staff member and spraying them with red paint. This escalation left the administration with little choice but to respond.
Three days later, McGill suspended their Memorandum of Agreement with the SSMU, citing the organizations’ explicit refusal to dissociate with groups that no longer have recognized status as a McGill Club (Student’s For Palestine’s Honour and Resistance status was revoked in September) and because they had been found to have“endorsed or engaged in acts of vandalism, intimidation, and obstruction as forms of activism.” The group’s involvement in the April student strike that made students and faculty feel “threatened, intimidated, and unsafe” was cited specifically in an email sent to the entire student body.
I’m glad the administration is finally paying attention, but it’s hard not to ask: why did it take eight months—and only after non-Jewish students and faculty were targeted—for them to step in?
The suspension of SSMU’s MOA is a step in the right direction, but there is still so much more work to be done. To truly support its students, the McGill administration must take concrete steps beyond reactive statements. This includes adopting a clear, consensus-based definition of antisemitism, such as the IHRA working definition, to be used as a framework for evaluating instances on campus. The university also must renew its commitment to punishing protestors who brazenly destroy McGill’s property, ensuring that students no longer think they can get away with vandalism. Additionally, McGill should establish clear guidelines around protest activity so that no student or faculty member is physically blocked from entering classrooms or academic buildings, and uphold every student’s right to access their education safely.
As I look ahead to my remaining two years at McGill, I can only hope this marks the beginning of a new chapter—one defined not by unchecked hostility and disruption, but by genuine dialogue, academic integrity, and a shared commitment to safety for all students.
This article was originally published in TheJ.CA.
