The encampment is over as McGill evicts pro-Palestinian protesters after 10 weeks

The pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University's downtown campus ended not with the sound of tear gas canisters popping and batons against riot shields, but with private security guards escorting a few dozen protesters out of the sprawling site in the early hours on Wednesday.

Montreal police had told the university it wouldn't dismantle the encampment without the approval of a judge. But instead of waiting for yet another injunction request to move through Quebec Superior Court, the university hired its own force to do the job.

For Zeyad Abisaab, who has been involved in the encampment through Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) Concordia, McGill's use of private security firm Sirco to remove the protesters is "absolutely shameful." 

"The courts did not make this decision," Abisaab said. "This is McGill and its private interests attacking its own students for protesting against investment in genocide and weapons manufacturer companies."

Since the encampment was erected on April 27, two Quebec Superior Court judges rejected provisional injunctions to have it removed. Another injunction request from McGill is still pending.

McGill ended negotiations with student protesters last month, denying their demand that the university divest from all companies with financial ties to Israel. 

Local and provincial police officers wearing riot gear were on campus, with some officers on bicycles and others on horseback, as protesters were served eviction notices and escorted off the site. Workers then dismantled the encampment, with little trace left as heavy rain began to pour Wednesday afternoon.

Fabrice Labeau, deputy provost of student life and learning, told Radio-Canada the operation was done in "close co-ordination" with Montreal police and the city. He said the university was grateful for the large police presence on campus while the operation was in progress.

Labeau denied the characterization of the protest as peaceful, saying there had been intimidation, harassment and vandalism on campus as well as the brief occupation of a university building.

He also said private investigators had found that as the protest stretched into summer, the majority of the people sleeping at the encampment were homeless.

When Dr. Nimâ Machouf heard reports of the encampment being dismantled, she made her way to campus to support student protesters. 

"It should not be up to students to come and sleep in the street, in the rain" to demand McGill cut ties with weapons manufacturers after Parliament voted to end arms sales to Israel, she said. 

The university maintains that meeting protesters' demands would have required divesting from a vast range of institutions, including every major Canadian bank.

After the university's failed attempts at dismantling the encampment through the courts, having private security agents kick them out was all the more surprising, said Felix Burt, who was at the encampment Wednesday morning.