Canadian state clashes with pro-Palestine student encampments, following the US’ lead

 

A wave of university encampments, designed with the common goal of getting the respective universities to divest from Israel, among other goals, have faced state backlash throughout North America, including Canada. NATO, particularly in the colonies of the United States and Canada, have taken the gloves off and are prepared to brutalize students in support of the NATO ethnic cleansing plan. 

The militancy of the movements is new in the modern era, and the defiant bottom lines are significant. Whether it will actually improve the students’ political consciousness and grasp of international politics, remains to be seen. Leaders that challenge the white supremacist nature of the state to the bitter end, and as a result are definitively anti-NATO in practice, could be a new product out of this generational moment.

State reaction, as is typical of the fascist government of the United States, was particularly brutal towards the students, even before the first major encampment at Columbia University began. Members of the House of Representatives, along with members of the Senate, were consistently calling for students to be expelled, arrested, deported, etc., for opposing the US-led NATO ethnic cleansing plan in Gaza and the West Bank under the established and hackneyed pretext of “combating antisemitism”.

The threats were frequent, using interrogations of the respective Ivy League university presidents at congressional hearings, to intimidate the students at large. The President of Columbia University even boasted about having already suspended 15 students who had participated in pro-Palestine protests, before the encampments began. The Columbia University students, however, instead of feeling intimidated, saw the national focus on the school as an opportunity, and began the encampments, which have spread nationwide, including in Florida, where fascist governor Ron DeSantis threatened to immediately expel all encampment participants.

Inspired by the pro-Palestine American students’ courageous battle against the brutal American state, which arrested over 2100 protesters in only two weeks, McGill University led the charge and installed the first student encampment in Canada. McGill was supported by the historically militant Concordia faculty and students. Far-right Canadian officials such as Quebec Premier Francois Legault have declared the encampment “illegal”, despite failing to get an injunction from the Quebec Superior Court against the encampment.  

The encampments, at the time of this article, have now expanded to the University of Ottawa, the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, McMaster University and many others. The far-right within the Canadian state is openly calling for repression, and for an “investigation” into funding sources, hinting at foreign influence in the protests, MP Kevin Vuong being the latest example.  (more...)

Canadian state clashes with pro-Palestine student encampments, following the US’ lead