A pro-Palestinian campus club at McGill University is being criticized for celebrating Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack against Israel.
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill called the attacks, which have so far claimed over 1500 lives, “heroic.”
On Saturday, Hamas launched its biggest attack on Israel in decades. Thousands of rockets were fired into Israel, and Palestinian gunmen infiltrated Israeli territory. The casualties include babies, children, women, and seniors – even Holocaust survivors. Hamas is also holding hostages and threatening to kill them on camera.
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill, which is recognized by the university’s student union, praised Hamas’s action as “heroic” and “monumental” in a Facebook post. The group also cheered on the launching of rockets and the taking of hostages.
“The resistance in Gaza led a heroic attack against the occupation and has taken over 30 hostages including Brigadier General Nimrod Aloni. Their march toward liberation is as monumental as their rockets – the resistance will free the prisoners who have been facing a fascist attack by the occupation and liberate our land from the fangs of the enemy.”
The group added that “the resistance has set a new precedent for the Palestinian struggle – our right to resist the occupation, to defend the land, and to free our prisoners are the utmost priorities.”
The association’s post also encouraged people to celebrate the attack by attending a pro-Hamas rally.
“We call on our people in Montreal and in the far diaspora to celebrate the resistance’s success, to uplift their calls, and to march this Sunday.”
SCREENSHOT: McGill campus club celebrates Hamas’ attack on Israel
McGill Provost and Vice-Principal of Academics Christopher Manfredi denounced the campus club in an email to students, staff and faculty, calling its posts “abhorrent.”
“Many people in the McGill community, and I include myself among them, are deeply upset about the horrific attack by Hamas on Israel last weekend. Knowing the pain that these events are causing to our community, it is particularly distressing to see recent social media posts by an association known as ‘Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights,’ which publicly associates itself with McGill University,” he wrote.
“The university denounces these abhorrent posts, which celebrate recent acts of terror and violence that have resulted in widespread loss of human life.”
Manfredi added that the statements “are antithetical to the university’s values and stand to undermine the important work aimed at bringing our community together… They also serve to create a harmful environment for both the Jewish and Muslim communities on our campuses.”
Manfredi has asked the student union to revoke the club’s ability to use the McGill name and to consider other appropriate reprimands.
The McGill student union did not respond to a request for comment from True North about if or how it will respond.
The union continues to promote Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill on its website.
The McGill student union has previously been challenged over its own anti-Israel activism.
In 2022, the McGill administration threatened to sanction the union over a policy adopted by referendum to boycott all companies and institutions that are “complicit in settler-colonial apartheid against Palestinians.”
The policy ended up being overturned by the union’s board of directors.
