McGill tables new offer to Pro-Palestinian encampment members

McGill University tabled a new offer to McGill members of the pro-Palestinian encampment, “going beyond previous proposals,” and calling for a return to “good-faith discussions.”

The camp has been setup on the lower field of the downtown Montreal campus since April 27.

McGill’s new offer, which was extended on Monday, includes a renewed suggestion to appoint a neutral-third party mediator to facilitate the discussions.

In addition, they will conduct a review to explore divestment from weapons manufactures. “A review of direct equity investments in entities, regardless of the countries in which they operate, that derive a dominant portion of their direct revenues from the production of military weapons would be undertaken,” they write in a press release issued Tuesday morning.

They will disclose all direct equity and fixed income investments below $500,000, create a mandate to support Palestinian scholarship at McGill, and leverage their Scholars at Risk program to “support scholars and students who are displaced or affected by crises in Gaza and in the Middle East. This would include extensive consultations across our community, including students.”

On Tuesday morning, encampment members would not comment when CityNews spoke to them, saying that they need some time to review the proposal before making any comments – but that an announcement could come later in the day.

According to the press release, McGill will also grant a disciplinary amnesty to any McGill student or employee who participated in the encampment before June 15, but they will not extend the pardon to any acts under current investigation such as what they call the forceible entry into the James Administration Building last Thursday, the destruction of property, vandalism, etc.

McGill university said similar proposals have led to successful resolutions and the voluntary dismantling of encampments by protesters at other universities.

“Achieving that resolution requires good-faith discussions from both parties,” reads the press release. “The University has made substantial offers on many occasions, yet encampment representatives have declared their demands non-negotiable. The university urges McGill members of the encampment to discuss this updated proposal in good faith, through a skilled and impartial mediator, in the hope of reaching a peaceful and satisfactory resolution for all.”

Pro-Palestinian encampment at UQAM taken down June 6

The pro-Palestinian encampment at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) was officially taken down June 6. Demonstrators had been camping there for nearly a month, but insisted that their fight for liberation of the Palestinian people was not over.

The camp had been set up in the courtyard of the Complexe des sciences Pierre-Dansereau since May 12.

Campers had said that they were satisfied with a resolution adopted by the university’s board of directors Wednesday night about the Israel-Hamas war.

In this resolution, UQAM pledged to “ensure that none of its current and future academic agreements, including those with Israeli universities, come into conflict” with certain principles

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

The resolution calls on the Fondation de l’UQAM to have no direct investment that profit from armaments.