McGill University in Montreal closed its downtown campus on Wednesday as police arrived in large numbers to help dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment that had been in place for weeks, according to The Associated Press. A Montreal police spokesman reported that one person was arrested for assaulting a security agent.
The encampment, one of many that have appeared on university campuses since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, was described by McGill president Deep Saini as "a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organized largely by individuals who are not part of our university community."
Police at McGill University are enforcing the law against the pro Hamas gangs. Mazol Tov pic.twitter.com/0kzo9SIBdg
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Under heavy rain, protesters carried their belongings off campus as bulldozers and security forces took down the encampment on the school's lower field. Félix Burt, a 20-year-old protester, told AP, "That was officially the last stand. There's nobody in the encampment anymore."
In Quebec City, Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry told reporters it was time to remove the protesters from the encampment. Déry expressed hope that the atmosphere on campuses would be calmer by the fall semester, saying the current environment had become "toxic."
However, McGill student Zaina Karim, who was not inside the camp when the dismantlement began, insisted that protests would continue. "This is not the end at all," Karim said. Protesters have been demanding that the university disclose and cut its ties with Israel.
