(Montreal) A confrontation between demonstrators and police broke out Thursday on the campus of McGill University and its surroundings, while pro-Palestinian demonstrators had barricaded themselves in the James administration pavilion.

The group of students barricaded themselves around 4 p.m. in response to the Israeli army’s escalating military strikes in Rafah and the university’s refusal to respond to queries about its ties to the state of Israel. This event takes place as part of the call to action

“Students occupied and blocked the James Administration Building in protest of the current escalation in Rafah and the genocide taking place in Gaza,” says Zoé*, who is part of the Palestine Solidarity Group on McGill campus.

She explains that the students “had no choice” to take these “exceptional measures” in the face of McGill’s refusal to respond to the demands of the residents of the camp on the McGill campus.

Zeyad is part of Concordia’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights group. Like many demonstrators, he responded to the call launched on the networks to come and support the barricaded students.

“Student and world spirit will never stop as long as the University is complicit,” he said. Complicity with genocide will never be normalized. »

The students wanted to occupy the building as long as the university did not financially dissociate itself from the Israeli state. A large number of police officers were then dispatched to the scene and evicted the students from the university building at around 6:30 p.m.

Dozens of students gathered outside the building in support of the barricaded demonstrators and to stop the advance of the police. The tension gradually increased, pushing the SPVM to use tear gas and charge the crowd.

“As long as our administration does not listen to us, we will not stop,” explains Jay* who came to demonstrate on campus. We will stay all night if necessary to protect the [barricaded] students. »

The demonstrators then played cat and mouse with the police on campus before taking over the surrounding streets as far as Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Mortar fire targeted the police.

“The students see that there is an escalation in Rafah, so it can only start to escalate here too,” adds Jay*. As long as we see violence escalating and bombs falling with impunity, we will become more and more passionate about the cause. »

The McGill administration reacted following the intrusion of students into one of the buildings.

“Protesters are currently occupying the main administration building, located on the downtown campus of McGill University,” McGill said. The police and the University security service are on site. »

According to the SPVM, demonstrators were still on site on the campus around 9:35 p.m. He explained that he was trying to “collaborate” with them.