Concordia University Netanyahu riot | |||
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Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |||
Date | September 9, 2002 | ||
Location | 45°29′49″N73°34′44″W / 45.497°N 73.579°W | ||
Caused by | Pro-Palestinian opposition to a visit from Israel's former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was invited by the Jewish student organization Hillel to speak on campus | ||
Parties | |||
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Casualties | |||
Arrested | 5, including Aaron Maté |
On September 9, 2002, a riot broke out at the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University in the Canadian city of Montreal in anticipation of a visit from Israeli former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The visit, to be held at noon in the Henry F. Hall Building, was cancelled after pro-Palestinian students attacked people who were attempting to attend the event and hear Netanyahu's speech. [1] [2] Netanyahu had been invited by the Jewish student organization Hillel. [1] Several hundred demonstrators blocked the event's attendees from entering the building. [3]
The incident took place amidst the Second Intifada, which had begun two years earlier, marking a period of increased violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict until 2005.
The attendees were escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place. Protesters broke into the building through a side door, but were blocked by Montreal Police on the escalators. Afterwards, the protesters began hurling furniture from the mezzanine to the lobby, [4] and officers responded by firing pepper spray at them, which resulted in the evacuation of the building and the cancellation of classes for the remainder of the day. [4] [5]
Around 1 p.m., a large window was shattered by the rioters. [1] At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side, was broken when rioters threw a metal barricade. Five demonstrators were arrested, [6] including vice president of the student council Aaron Maté, and an additional 12 faced internal disciplinary hearings under Concordia's Code of Rights and Responsibilities. [7]
Netanyahu was not present at the protest, having remained at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. He later accused the activists of supporting terrorism and "mad zealotry," [8] stating that "They're supporting Saddam Hussein, they're supporting Arafat, they're supporting Bin Laden." [6]
In the wake of the riot, Concordia University instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the banning of any events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for one month, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency. [1]
The 2004 documentary Discordia , produced by the National Film Board of Canada, documents the fallout from the riot by following three young Concordia campus activists, including Maté. [9] In 2003, GlobalTV also aired the documentary Confrontation at Concordia , produced by Martin Himel. Raymond Beauchemin, a 1992 Concordia University graduate (MA, English), wrote the novel These Days Are Nights after being inspired by the events of the protest.
Concordia University is a public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the three universities in Quebec where English is the primary language of instruction. As of the 2022–23 academic year, there were 49,898 students enrolled in credit and non-credit courses at Concordia, making the university among the largest in Canada by enrollment. The university has two campuses, set approximately seven kilometres apart: Sir George Williams Campus is the main campus, located in the Quartier Concordia neighbourhood of Downtown Montreal in the borough of Ville Marie; and Loyola Campus in the residential district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. With four faculties, a school of graduate studies and numerous colleges, centres and institutes, Concordia offers over 400 undergraduate and over 120 graduate programs and courses.
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Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) is a non-profit, student-based organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It gained a wide profile after instigating a protest in Concordia University, that forced the Israeli ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a speech that was to take place on 9 September 2002. Rama Al-Malah serves as its spokesperson.
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The Link is an independent, student-run, not-for-profit multi-media publication at Concordia University. The Link publishes a bi-weekly newspaper every other Tuesday during the fall and winter semesters, and publishes online daily through its website.
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The Henry F. Hall Building is a building on the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Referred to as the 'H' building, it is located at 1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, in between Mackay Street and Bishop Street in the Quartier Concordia neighbourhood.
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