Montreal lecturer suspended in fallout of Concordia altercation over Israel-Hamas war

A Université de Montréal (UdeM) lecturer has been suspended after he was involved in Wednesday's chaotic clash at Concordia University related to the Israel-Hamas war. 

A video shared on social media shows a man identified by UdeM as Yannis Arab, a history lecturer, engaged in a fierce shouting match with someone who is off-camera.

It's difficult to make out Arab’s words over the roaring crowd, but some on social media accused him of telling his opponent to "go back to Poland."

CTV News was unable to reach Arab on social media and his profile has been deleted from the UdeM website.  

The scholar was among dozens who took part in an altercation at Concordia's Hall building earlier this week involving "Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, including students but also people from outside our community," according to the university.

The clash, which lasted hours, turned violent.

Three people were injured, according to Montreal police (SPVM), and a 22-year-old student was arrested for assault.

In a statement to CTV News, a UdeM spokesperson said the incident is under investigation.

"An internal investigation was opened yesterday. The situation is being taken very seriously and we have increased security measures on campus as a precautionary measure," the statement reads.

Arab, who teaches a course called "Dominations et résistances dans le monde arabe" (dominations and resistance in the Arabic world in English), was scheduled to give a class on Thursday but it was cancelled by the school.

UdeM said Arab has been suspended with pay pending the investigation.