On Sept. 15, a group of approximately 50 McGill and Concordia students and community members gathered at McGill’s Y-intersection for a “Vigil for Gaza” organized by Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance at McGill (SPHR). Students raised Palestinian flags around the area as the sun set. Around 6:45 p.m., a student with a microphone began the chant, “We will honour all our martyrs,” which the audience promptly picked up. Students lit candles as it got dark.
A representative from SPHR began by speaking about the current situation for people in Gaza.
“We are on day 710 of this genocide,” they stated. “There have been almost 200,000 martyrs. But numbers do no justice to each martyr, each with name, a family, with a home, and with hopes and dreams. [….] Their graves are not marked by tombstones, but by the rubble of their homes.”
The speaker also emphasized how McGill and similar institutions are complicit in this killing because of their refusal to divest from companies which profit from weapons used by Israel.
“McGill is responsible for every penny it invests in this genocide,” they said.
The next speaker, an SPHR representative for graduate students, turned the solemn theme of mourning into a call for action.
“We vow to remember every martyr in Palestine with every action we take,” they expressed.
This speaker also noted that the death toll from the genocide in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, may be six times the amount reported by the Gaza Health Ministry. Other reports estimate the toll to be 40 per cent higher than the Gaza Health Ministry reports.
A McGill professor next spoke about the complicated mixture of anger, sadness, and love that she saw reflected in the crowd at the vigil. She echoed similar emotions of immense mourning for Palestinians, but also spoke about finding strength, community, and resilience in those who gathered to participate in collective grieving. The professor read a poem by Palestinian Poet Hiba Abu Nada, called “I Grant You Refuge.” She explained that Abu Nada wrote this particular poem only ten days before she was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Oct. 20, 2023, at the age of 32.
Afterwards, SPHR representatives began two prayers, one read in Arabic, the other in English, dedicated to all those who have been killed in Gaza.
In an interview with The Tribune, a spokesperson for SPHR explained why they decided to host the vigil, and what the most important takeaways for McGill students and administration are.
“We are gathered here tonight to mourn the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the genocide in Gaza, and to continue to fight for academic divestment,” they said. “We call on McGill to end its complicity […] by divesting from weapons companies among other complicit companies, and ending academic partnerships with complicit institutions. [….] Students must join the fight for divestment.”
The McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) commented on these calls in a written statement to The Tribune.
“The analysis by the Committee [on Sustainability and Social Responsibility] confirmed that the University had no exposure to companies involved in the production of controversial weapons at the time of the review [on July 8, 2024],” the MRO wrote.
Another student attending the vigil voiced what they hope will come from pro-Palestine activism on university campuses like McGill’s.
“We want to see McGill divestment, and we want to see Concordia divestment,” they explained. “We also want [these universities] to stop policing students. Both McGill and Concordia have been increasing their security for the purpose of policing students on campus who are speaking out.”
“McGill University is firmly committed to freedom of expression and has no issue with lawful activism and protest, regardless of the cause,” the MRO wrote.
A McGill community member in attendance shared that they hope this vigil will lead to further action for Palestine in an interview with The Tribune.
“We are taking the time to honour the past, to mourn together, and then to use it as fuel to continue to fight for justice into the future,” they expressed.
