UQAM's pro-Palestinian encampment to come down Thursday

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have been camping out at UQAM for almost a month say they will be packing up their things. (LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Christinne Muschi)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have been camping out at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) for almost a month say they will be packing up their things on Thursday.

All the same, they insist that the struggle for liberation of the Palestinian people is not over.

Last week, the activists announced their intention to end their encampment “by June 6 at the latest.” 

It has been set up in the courtyard of the Complexe des sciences Pierre-Dansereau since May 12.

They say they are satisfied with a resolution adopted by the university's board of directors concerning the situation between the Palestinian people and Israel.

In its resolution, UQAM pledged to “ensure that none of its current or future academic agreements, including those with Israeli universities"  conflict with certain principles.

The school also made a firm commitment to peace and respect for international humanitarian law.

The resolution also calls on the Fondation de l'UQAM to have no direct investments that profit from armament.

In a press release issued Thursday morning, the activist group L'Université populaire Al-Aqsa de l'UQAM (UPA-UQAM) said the resolution was “far from satisfactory,” as it did not call for a complete boycott of Israeli universities.

They state, however, that the encampment “made it possible to hold UQAM accountable for its actions by placing it in the spotlight of public opinion.”

“Despite the end of the encampment, we will continue the struggle since we cannot be satisfied with performative declarations giving a misleading image of the university's so-called commitment,” argued Sara Hamadi, a student and camper with UPA-UQAM.

The last activists are expected to leave the camp by Thursday evening as part of a demonstration demanding that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government abolish the Quebec office in Tel Aviv.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 6, 2024.