September 16, 2024
MONTREAL – After years of advocacy by B’nai Brith Canada, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) announced Monday that it had revoked the official club status of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR).
“This is an important step and should serve as a precedent for universities across the country,” said Henry Topas, B’nai Brith Canada’s Quebec Regional Director. “SPHR has been a source of hate and violent incitement at McGill for many years. We are pleased that the university has finally made the necessary decision to use its power to end the madness.”
SSMU’s decision to revoke SPHR’s status became effective Sept. 5 after McGill warned the student union that failing to do so would result in a default of its Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the university. A breach of this contract would have placed SSMU’s funding in jeopardy.
In a letter to SSMU last July, McGill Deputy Provost Angela Campbell echoed many of the concerns previously expressed by B’nai Brith. This included an outrageous social media post by SPHR that described Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks as “heroic” and celebrated the abduction of “over 30 hostages.”
SPHR was a lead organizer of the anti-Israel encampment on McGill’s lower field April 27 to July 10, 2024. A so-called “Revolutionary Youth Summer Program” at the site orchestrated by SPHR prompted condemnation by B’nai Brith and a police investigation.
“SPHR repeatedly used antisemitic rhetoric or imagery and engaged in unlawful conduct,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy. “McGill’s decisiveness is encouraging, but for years, universities have struggled to take appropriate action against groups such as SPHR.
“That is why B’nai Brith recently created its Policy for Countering Antisemitism on Campus (PCAC), which is meant to help universities respond to incidents of antisemitism in the future.”
B’nai Brith has supported multiple legal efforts to compel McGill to crack down on SPHR’s activities, including a 2022 case that sought in part to cut the club off from funding or official recognition. In 2023, B’nai Brith helped an anonymous plaintiff obtain an injunction in a bid to prevent SSMU from ratifying the results of a controversial referendum containing the so-called Policy Against Genocide in Palestine — a document that omitted any mention of Hamas’ Oct. 7 atrocities — which was endorsed by SPHR.
