Members of the pro-Palestinian camp at McGill say they are negotiating demands with the university

Palestinian protesters held a press conference Monday on the 10th day of the encampment at the McGill campus in downtown Montreal. Representatives said the camp has begun negotiations with the university over its demands to divest from businesses with ties to Israel.

“This morning we presented the requirements for the camps in a closed-door meeting with the McGill administration, and we have yet to receive a clear timeline and process for how they will meet those requirements,” said the student arm of Independent Jewish Voices.

“Our demands were clear. We demand a material divestment from: The McGill Investment Committee and Board of Governors to disclose all investments in companies involved in the genocide of the Palestinian people. Second: End all courses, internships and cooperatives and exchange programs with apartheid Israel. And three: Total divestment of all companies involved in the Israeli occupation and genocide of Palestinians, including arms and technology companies.”

The group says the camp will remain in place until McGill meets their demands.

“From investing in apartheid South Africa to the historic and ongoing subjugation of indigenous peoples, McGill University has always been on the wrong side of history,” said an SPHR McGill spokesperson. “Students, however, have long been at the forefront of social struggles, and as we see today in this global student uprising, students have declared their desire to boycott and boycott academia.”

CityNews said in a statement to McGill University: “The university's ongoing goal is to end the encampment in a timely and peaceful manner. We will continue to stay in touch with some of the McGill community members who will be attending the camp.

“We listen to them and try to explore ways to reach a meaningful solution that adheres to our institutional mission and principles. We do not comment on the substance of these discussions.”

Some McGill professors showed their support on Monday.

“I think it's because students and professors don't want to be involved in what they see as genocide in Gaza right now,” says McGill professor Daniel Schwartz. “That's why it's important, and it's important to support students exercising their free speech rights.”

The protesters set up camp ten days ago. Since then, there have been more tents and more people.

“We had enough generous donations to feed everyone who was there, everyone who came,” said Ari Nahman of Independent Jewish Voices. “We have water, we have food, but we have like clothes, because there was mud and rain, even we have enough surplus and abundance, we gave it to shelters around. We have groups that give it to local shelters, downtown homeless shelters.”

However, some supporters are being pushed back. By midafternoon, one McGill faculty member said students were stopped by campus security from bringing N95 masks and were barred from bringing the supplies to camp.

“The refusal of the actual administration to listen to the demands of the students prompted the student organization to take extraordinary measures and establish this camp in coordination with 140 universities around the world,” said one student.

Pro-Palestinian activists have pitched tents at the University of Toronto, the University of Ottawa, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, following a similar wave of protests on US campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.

Opponents of the camps said the protests were illegal and made some Jewish students, McGill and Prime Minister Francois Legot feel unsafe. asked the police to help demolish the tents in Montreal.

Last week, pro-Israel demonstrators staged a counter-protest just steps from the camp. A strong police presence separated the two, resulting in a peaceful end.

The SPVM said in a press release last Thursday evening that it had taken into account the court's decision to reject the request for a temporary restraining order by two McGill students due to “lack of demonstration of an emergency”.