Academics for Palestine - Concordia

Text slide with a red background and black text that reads: Entire Advisory Council of the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery resign in protest at the dismissal of Director Pip Day, citing donor intimidation and censorship over Palestine.

Black and white photo of an armed Montreal police officer standing guard inside the entrance of the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery - from October 31st, when Concordia University ejected the entire Gallery team from their workplace, in order to use the Gallery to detain students protesting increased police presence on campus.

The entire Advisory Council of #ConcordiaUniversity ’s Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery have resigned in protest of administration’s unjust dismissal of Director Pip Day, citing donor intimidation and censorship over Palestine.

#NoBusinessAsUsual #Montreal #censorship #antipalestinianracism

This whole thread: Concordia University "neutrality" = censorship, firing and repression. #montreal

'Beaten before release': Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners casts shadow on celebrations Former detainees recounted abuse, violence and humiliation, even up to a few hours before they were released

'Beaten before release': Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners casts shadow on celebrations - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/celebrations-palestinians-released-israeli-detention-tainted-worry

This initial event of 2025 was a sobering reminder of the need to amplify the collective struggle for justice, and it is the first of many. A big thank you to everyone who joined us.

In what has become standard University practice, we were confronted by campus security who first tried to block our entry to the Library Building atrium and then called the SPVM where no less than 10 cop cars showed up, with multiple officers entering the building to intimidate / surveil us.

Led by Nazzal, a group of faculty, students, artists and activists made their way to the front of the gallery where we took turns speaking out against the University’s efforts to academically and culturally whitewash the Occupation.

Suppression which includes harassing pro-Palestine students and faculty and #ConcordiaUniversity’s ongoing normalization of Israel’s genocide and occupation by working intimately with Zionist organizations like the Azrieli Foundation.

Initially conceived as an artist talk, in response to escalating intimidation on campus, Nazzal followed her presentation with an invitation to join her in protest against the administration’s continued attempts to suppress Palestine solidarity on campus.

Nazzal spoke movingly of the resilience of the children and adults she had met and discussed the parallels between so-called ‘Canada’’s settler colonial project and that of the Zionist Israeli state.

In Nazzal's artist talk, she shared photographs taken over the course of the last year documenting the expanding violence and dispossession occurring in the West Bank - she explained that the accelerated brutality being inflicted on Palestinians in the West Bank by the IOF is no less destructive.

Featuring artist Rehab Nazzal holding up a protest sign, leading a group of students, academics and artists through the halls of Concordia's EV building to the Bina Ellen Gallery, following her artist talk.

A group of protestors lined up in front of the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery in protest of Concordia's censorship of Palestine.

A photo of Rehab Nazzal speaking in front of a group of students, academics and artists about Concordia University's complicity in the genocide and Pip Day's unjust dismissal as Director of the Bina Ellen Art Gallery.

The SPVM officers that were called on protestors by campus security after trying to bar our entry to the Library Building atrium. 10 cop cars were stationed outside.

On Jan. 9, Palestinian artist Rehab Nazzal joined us for a powerful artist talk & protest against #ConcordiaUniversity administration's unjust dismissal of curator Pip Day, the now-former Director of the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery due to her pro-Palestine programming. #Montreal

Screenshot of an article from the Concordian newspaper featuring an image of a keffiyeh and a headline that reads: Palestinian student assaulted in the Hall building Christopher Bahnan condemns Concordia’s refusal to send out a warning to students following his assault in December.

Absolutely horrific, please amplify: Palestinian student assaulted in the Hall building - Christopher Bahnan condemns Concordia’s refusal to send out a warning to students following his assault in December. #Montreal #ConcordiaUniversity #antipalestinianracism

theconcordian.com/2025/01/pale...

"And since the attack, it’s doubled all of those anxieties. It’s made that fear real. It’s made it cemented into an actual physical manifestation of aggression and violence.”"

“This entire past [...] has been a constant failure by Concordia to see to the security needs of all of their student body,” he said. “I already felt like it wasn’t a very safe environment to be in."

"But since the assault, Bahnan has considered not returning to Concordia."

"In September, Bahnan was returning to university after about 15 years of professional life. He chose to join Concordia because his brother, father, and grandfather had all attended the university, with the latter joining as a mature student like him."

"“ I found that very hypocritical and nonsense that they would do an email for a protest warning people about the possible dangers, but not send an email when somebody was actually attacked on campus grounds and for apparently racially motivated reasons,” said Bahnan."

"She did not share more details on why this incident did not meet these criteria."

"Ultimately CSPS denied his request to send out an email about the assault. “Security alerts are issued if there is an imminent or active threat to the safety of community members, as was done a number of times during fall protests when acts of violence or vandalism occurred,” wrote Fortier."

“He disregarded that and said, ‘Well, our student security services are always there for the student body when they need us.’ And I said, ‘Well, very clearly they aren’t. Because I was assaulted and beaten, and your security was nowhere to be found,’” said Bahnan."

"The following day, Bahnan received a call from the director of CSPS. Front of Bahnan’s mind was the desire to prevent this from happening to another student - he asked if they could send out a warning to the student body since the assault had occurred on campus and seemed to be racially motivated."

"When asked to comment on the incident, Concordia Deputy Spokesperson Julie Fortier wrote that she could not share information about this specific case but that “as soon as our agents are alerted to an incident, they are dispatched immediately to take whatever action is required.”"

"“Those security officers are always there to go and tell people, ‘Hey, you can’t smoke here, or hey, you can’t do this,’” said Bahnan. “But they’re nowhere to be found when there’s actually a violent crime being committed.”"

"The police arrived about 20 minutes after the attack.

Both Bahnan and Mashkuri expressed outrage that it took security so long to reach Bahnan."

"“This wasn’t a fight; this was a man assaulting me,” he said. “This wasn’t me getting into an altercation with somebody over a girl or a boy or a spilled drink or anything silly like that. This was straight up just a violent and aggressive assault of one student.”"

"Bahnan was badly bruised, and his glasses were broken. He later found out that he had a fractured sinus wall.

Once security agents got to Bahnan, the man had gone, and they started asking questions about the assault. Bahnan said that one agent referred to the incident as a “fight.”"

"Bahnan covered his face as the man attacked him and tried to disengage. He recalled the man trying to grab his keffiyeh and pull it off his shoulders.

Mashkuri yelled for help from the Hall building lobby.

Concordia security was nowhere to be found.”"

"“He started walking towards me more aggressively,” said Bahnan. “I continued to just not engage with him. That’s when he [the man] attacked, lunged, grabbed me, folded me over, and started pushing me into the Hall building and punching me in the side of the head and face.”"

"He ignored the man and kept walking, but the man started challenging him and hurling homophobic and racist slurs at him, at which point Bahnan turned around and flipped him off."

"As he reached the Hall building, a tall man he didn’t know started heading his way. He did not have a backpack and did not seem to be a student, according to Bahnan.

“And so I kind of stopped and went to the side, but he still just shoved full force into me and knocked me to the side.”"