McGill University has suspended negotiations with the organizers of the pro-Palestinian encampment set up on its campus for nearly two months, but plans to implement certain measures to demonstrate its good faith.
In a press release, the rector of McGill, Deep Saini, explained that the latest offer from management, transmitted last week, was refused by the demonstrators. According to him, the activists also refused to begin a mediation process.
Following this refusal, management considers that the talks are at an impasse. She therefore puts an end to it, “while maintaining the next steps with a view to making (her) commitments a reality”.
As it committed to doing in its most recent proposal, the university will therefore examine the possibility of disinvesting from arms manufacturing companies, establishing a fund to accommodate two academics directly affected by the current crisis in the Middle East. Orient and disclose, to the extent possible, its direct holdings and fixed-yield securities investments below $500,000 — those above this amount are already public.
As for the camp, management intends to remain in contact with law enforcement and the various levels of government in order to plan what happens next.
In his opinion, “no university is equipped to manage, on its own, the dismantling of a camp and the dangerous situations caused by such an occupation. »
“The circumstances we are currently experiencing go far beyond our institution; rather, they emanate from a much deeper and more serious problem, which concerns civil society as a whole,” Mr. Saini argued.
Protesters’ tents have been set up on the McGill campus since the end of April. Activists are demanding in particular the immediate reallocation of funds from investments in companies linked to the Israeli army and the severing of ties between McGill and Israeli institutions.
Last week, several groups involved in the encampment issued a joint statement calling McGill’s latest offer “laughable.”
