Why Did Concordia Finally Act—And Why Not Sooner?

On November 8, 2023, a fight erupted in the mezzanine of Hall Building on Concordia University’s downtown campus in Montréal, Quebec. Pro-Palestinian students gathered a crowd of supporters that intimidated a pro-Israel student group tabling to honor the Israeli hostages, resulting in multiple injuries and an arrest. The Hall Building is notorious for being the primary site of student activity, ranging from tabling for clubs to walk-outs for Gaza and shattered windows. 

As a graduate student at Concordia University, I have seen firsthand how our administration has repeatedly neglected Jewish students by leaving hostility and intimidation unchecked. 

This was the case on January 29, 2025, when around 2% of the eligible undergraduate students came out and voted during the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) Special General Meeting (SGM). The motion, created by Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) and sponsored by Academics for Palestine, demanded that the university comply with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) movement and its demands, and to present it at the Board of Governor’s (BoG) meeting that took place February 6, 2025. 

858 students showed up to vote. It’s unclear if everyone who showed up and voted were actually Concordia undergraduate students; many covered their faces with keffiyehs and medical masks. A student, Ali Salman, motioned to prohibit questions and comments which passed, so many students who had prepared something to say were prevented. Besides currently being a CSU councillor, Salman is also a member of SPHR, and served as McGill’s “Encampment Spokesperson” during the 2024 unlawful McGill encampment. 

Jewish and pro-Israel students knew the motion was likely to pass, yet a small number of students showed up to the hostile and aggressive vote. Withstanding verbal harassment, profanities, personal attacks and middle fingers, the students stood strong, waving Israeli and Canadian flags, chanting “Am Israel Chai,” and singing Israel’s national anthem. 

The motion passed with a 800-58 vote. 

Simultaneously, the anti-Israel contingent chanted their usual: “From the River to the Sea.” One student even yelled, “A salute to the martyr, Yahya Sinwar” in Arabic which was followed by clapping and cheering. 

After the vote, the Hall Building was flooded by students chanting, “all the Zionists are racists, all the Zionist are terrorists” and “Say it loud and say it clear, we don’t want any Zionists here.” They also chanted in Arabic, “We are your men, Ezzidine” and “A salute to the Al-Qassam Brigades” (both referencing Hamas brigades). The group eventually took their celebrations to the streets. 

While security was present, no student was reprimanded on campus grounds — not for verbal abuse, nor for standing on tables and chanting for Hamas, or breaking numerous school rules. Not even third year computer science student and SPHR member, Laith “Leo” Qasem Bargouthi, filmed himself flashing the inverted red triangle at Jewish and pro-Israel students.

While the subject manner and environment of the vote may have been upsetting for some, it’s the democratic process. When at least 250 members sign a petition, an SGM must take place. However, the motion was created by SPHR, a banned group from Concordia and sponsored by Academics for Palestine (a4pconcordia), a non-university recognized group. 

Enacting BDS makes it so that students who chose Concordia for certain programs, or need particular internships and jobs, will have that opportunity taken from them. Non-official student or university-approved groups shouldn’t have a say in whether BDS is enacted on campus, considering the motion would jeopardize many students’ futures. 

On the day of the BoG meeting, the university launched an investigation into the CSU. In their email, they accused the CSU of enabling intimidation and discrimination against “a group of students,” altogether “compromising the values of civility, equity, respect and non-discrimination.” It informed the CSU that they would not be able to book any space on campus, including Hall Building and the mezzanine, until the investigation is concluded. Now, I walk through Hall Building, and the tables are empty. 

Students have been repeatedly told by administrators that they cannot intervene with the CSU’s internal affairs, as the union acts independently from the university and the CSU is funded by fee levies paid for by the undergraduate students. The university itself has opposed BDS since 2014, and hasn’t stepped in previously when it was promoted on campus. 

So why did they step in three months ago on February 6th? And why then, when Jewish students had been asking the administration to step in over the year prior? And why, most importantly, has the university left students once again with no answers or accountability?

In February, students like myself were starting to feel ever-so-slightly less tense walking through campus. But months later, disappointment remains, and it feels like yet another instance of all talk, no action. And each demonstration and strike that goes unanswered only emboldens anti-Israel agitators, leaving many students in fear of attending the university they paid for. As a student at Concordia, it seems like a lot of empty words and false promises — much like Concordia’s updated behavior guidelines (done just before the start of the school year) reminding the community that threatening violent conduct, harassment and discrimination are prohibited. 

While Concordia University has still not taken any official action against the CSU to this day, McGill University made the historic decision to sever its ties with its student union a few weeks ago after a three-day strike for Palestine from April 2-4. During the strike, protesters damaged and vandalized buildings as well as blocked the entrance to several classrooms which resulted in some cancellations. While this has been a problem on their campus for over a year now, it is still a step in the right direction, and something I believe Concordia University can learn from.

One day, I won’t be walking on this campus, and neither will current CSU members or the 800 students who voted in January, thinking they could intimidate Jewish students and glorify terrorism without consequence. Whether the administration steps up or not, reality will catch up to them. The students who incited hate today will be tomorrow’s educators, lawyers, and policymakers.

The next time something like this happens — at Concordia or any Canadian university — take it seriously. The gap between campus and the real world is smaller than you think.