Hannah Scott-Talib

Montrealers take to the streets for Lebanon

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Hundreds of Montreal residents gathered in Dorchester Square to march towards the Israeli Consulate on Sept. 25, in protest of Israel’s escalated attacks on Lebanon. Photo Hannah-Scott Talib

Gabe Elliott,
Local Journalism Initiative

Protesters demanded an end to attacks on Lebanon and a ceasefire in Palestine

On Sept. 25, hundreds of Montrealers gathered downtown at Dorchester Square to protest Israel’s escalation of violence against Lebanon.

The protest, organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) Montreal, began at 6 p.m. Protesters banged drums, played Lebanese music and led chants such as, “Say it clear and say it loud, resistance, you make us proud” and, “Up, up with liberation, down, down with the occupation.”. 

PYM speakers addressed those gathered at the square, before the march began along René-Lévesque Blvd., turning onto Stanley St. and then heading along St.-Catherine St. towards the Israeli Consulate.

“For 365 days, we have taken to the streets to demand an end to the genocide and an end to the criminal Canadian complicity,” one PYM speaker said. “From Lebanon to Palestine, we will continue fight[ing] until the end of the genocide in Gaza, until every prisoner is liberated, until every refugee returns home, and until every single inch of Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.”

Since Sept. 23, Israel has escalated its attacks on Lebanon, killing at least 620 people, including at least 50 children, and injuring over 1,800 others. More people died on Sept. 23 than on any other day since the end of the country’s civil war 34 years ago. 

Community members handed out plums to the crowd gathered in front of the Consulate, as more speeches began. Speakers directly connected the escalation of attacks on Lebanon to Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, stressing that to oppose one is to oppose all.

One protester, who was granted anonymity for safety reasons, spoke about their personal connection to recent events. 

“I’m Lebanese and from the south, my village has [already] been getting bombed for the past 11 months,” they said. “[The current situation] means a lot to me because now it’s getting intensely bombed.”

Another attendee, who left Lebanon in 2020 after the explosion in Beirut and was also granted anonymity for safety reasons, said that it’s important to attend protests demanding that Israel be held accountable for actions committed since the country was founded in 1948. 

“Israel has been committing injustices since it was created. Its creation is an injustice,” they said. “[Israel] has committed massacre after massacre, they’re committing ethnic cleansing, genocide, they occupied the south of [Lebanon] as well, and they just get away with impunity because they’re an extension of the American imperial core.”

The protest dispersed at 8:40 p.m., with Muslim community members joining in collective prayer. Organizers made a final address to the crowd, urging those in attendance to stay engaged and continue their protest and advocacy as the one-year anniversary of the genocide in Gaza approaches.
 

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One year since Oct. 7

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Protesters marched through downtown Montreal for the Palestinian liberation cause on Feb. 18, 2024. Photo Andraé Lerone Lewis

Hannah Scott-Talib,
Local Journalism Initiative

Reflecting on the heights of activism this past year and the future of the movement

It will soon be one year since Oct. 7.

Exactly 357 days ago, the Palestinian militant group Hamas fired rockets into and re-entered the occupied territory known as Israel, killing over a thousand Israeli civilians, according to Israeli officials. Israel’s retaliation of the event continues, with the displacement of over 2 million Palestinians and 42,000 confirmed Palestinian civilian murders to date, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

Reflecting on the past year, advocates for Palestine in Montreal talk about how the Palestinian liberation movement has progressed and discuss where it is now. 

Peaks of activism

Last year, the first peak in mobilization came immediately after Israel’s escalated attacks on Gaza. 

“In the heat of the moment, everyone just wanted to do something for Palestine. They didn’t care what we were doing [or] how we did it, as long as we did something,” said Hassan Ridha, a member of Concordia University’s Thaqalayn Muslim Students’ Association and an active advocate for Palestine. 

“We hadn’t mobilized this quickly and this efficiently until an attack happened, until we saw the death numbers rise significantly within a matter of days,” Ridha said. “So this is when we reacted.” 

Ridha added that, over the past year, another key point in the liberation movement was the establishment of the encampment at McGill University.

“When students came together to say ‘No, we’re not going to get used to what is happening in Gaza, until the university meets [our] demands we’re not just going to sit idly,’” he said, “I think this revived the spirit of many people who weren’t as involved anymore with the movement.”

Ridha isn’t the only one that feels like the encampment was a key step towards liberation. 

“The encampment set a precedent,” said a member of Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance Concordia (SPHR ConU), who has been granted anonymity for safety reasons. They said that the encampment saw a huge surge in student mobilization in particular, and that it set a precedent for what was considered fair protest in Montreal through McGill’s two rejected injunctions to dismantle the encampment.

According to Ridha, throughout the year, collective activism for the Palestinian cause was the most prominent directly following Israel’s heaviest attacks. He said there was a surge in activism most recently following Israel’s air strikes on Lebanon that began on Sept. 23.

“People came back together after they saw the heavy bombardment of Beirut,” Ridha said, “which at least shows consistency, that we are able to come back together [and mobilize].”

The future of the Palestinian cause 

“Over the last year, I think we’ve seen action from the masses at, what I would say, is an unprecedented and an inspiring level,” said Haya, a member of The Palestinian Youth Movement’s (PYM) Montreal chapter, whose last name has been kept anonymous for safety reasons. “People have responded to the fact that the genocide has been going on for a year and continue to respond to it.”

Now, Haya added, PYM is looking to shift to more long-term forms of activism. She said that PYM recently launched a new campaign entitled “Mask Off Maersk.” which aims to target one of the largest shipping companies in the world, the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group. 

“[Maersk] acts as a middleman for arms and weapons shipments to Israel,” Haya said. According to her, by interrupting the logistics of shipping, this campaign will attack weapons and arms manufacturers “across the board.”

Meanwhile, the SPHR ConU member said they feel that—through heightened awareness for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement—successfully pressuring Concordia, McGill and other large Montreal institutions to divest from Israel is a realistic goal for 2025. 

“We’re closer to divestment than ever,” they said. “[The] BDS movement has grown so much it’s become a [central] topic in the city.”

They added that, in relation to the BDS movement, the next step after divestment would be an academic boycott of institutions such as Concordia. 

“Everyone has the freedom to learn whatever they want, but if it’s at the cost of the occupation of a people, or if it’s at the cost of killing people, then I don’t think that’s academic freedom,” they said. 

Still, activists like Ridha believe that certain important accomplishments have already been made since Oct. 7, 2023.

“The biggest achievement, for me, is awareness—it’s something you can’t lose,” Ridha said. “Over time, people might lose interest in participating in protests or in doing active work for Palestine, but no one is going to go home and forget about the companies to boycott.”

He added that new activists for the Palestinian cause have learned so much more about the movement as a whole over the past year, from the meaning of the keffiyeh to the history of Palestinian resistance. 

“This, I think, is the best thing we have achieved since Oct. 7,” Ridha said. “It’s the gaining of knowledge that gives us a foundation for the next time.” 

With files from Menna Nayel

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 3, published October 1, 2024.

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Canada has a rampant South Asian racism problem

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A spike in racism towards South Asians has been seen in Canada this year. Graphic Myriam Ouazzani

Hannah Scott-Talib,
Local Journalism Initiative

Anti-immigration sentiment in Canada is fuelling South Asian racism online

There has been a steady rise in racism towards South Asian communities in Canada over the past couple of years, and one of the main culprits might be social media.

This year, xenophobia can largely be traced down to anti-immigration rhetoric being spread in online comment sections without regulation, as well as Tik Tok trends that mock South Asian cultures. 

“There’s so much normalized hate towards South Asian communities [in Canada],” said 19-year-old Bangladeshi Concordia student Afra Azreen, who moved to Montreal in 2022. 

Dipti Gupta, professor of Cinema and Communications at Dawson College and Fine Arts at Concordia University, said she believes that this racism stems largely from a lack of acceptance towards immigrants. It’s a sentiment that she said she has experienced herself throughout the past couple of decades living in Canada as an immigrant.

“I think people feel a sense of anger and fear in thinking that somebody is coming here and not following a certain culture,” Gupta said. “They feel that somebody is less than [them], not realizing, at the end of the day, we all need to treat each other as human beings first.” 

During the months of January, February, May and June 2024, Canadian immigration officials refused more visitor visa applications than they approved. The ratio of refused applications to approved ones was the highest recorded since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A recent poll from the Leger for Association of Canadian Studies revealed that, in cities such as Toronto, targeted racism towards Sikh Indian immigrants in particular has been on the rise this year. 

Indians are currently the largest demographic of immigrants coming to Canada. 

“There’s a lot of ‘Othering’ in general [towards South Asian immigrants],” Gupta said, referring to Edward Said’s notion of Orientalism. The phenomenon describes how Western culture intellectually holds itself above the East, or Asia.

“This ‘Othering’ has only accelerated in some ways, and has become more prominent,” Gupta said. “[It] stems from a fear that the ‘Other’ is not as educated, or is less than [Westerners].” 

According to Azreen, it’s not uncommon to find social media videos mocking South Asian culture in some way or another these days, particularly when it comes to videos of street food being made in countries like India. 

“They’ll be [making] a cultural dish, and then people are hating on it in the comments,” Azreen said. “People are very quick and harsh to make these comments, it gets blown out of proportion and that wouldn’t have happened if it had been a different culture.”

“It tends to be [seen as] different, and usually it’s a bad type of different,” Ayaaz Esmail said on the topic of South Asian food. The 23-year-old grew up in Vancouver with Indian and Ugandan heritage. “It’s that fear of the unknown, and fear perpetuates hate, which makes people ignorant.” 

Both Azreen and Esmail expressed that, throughout their lives, they have experienced being stereotyped as a result of their ethnicity.

“I’m generalized under a picture of people who hate women, or who hate gay people,” Esmail said. 

As an Ismaili Muslim, Esmail said his identity gets mixed into stereotypes pertaining to people from certain Middle Eastern countries, despite him having no relation to these countries.

“We’re rarely shown the really positive pictures of my faith, [or] of other people’s faith,” he said. “It really sucks because we’re all just generalized as brown.”

On her end, Azreen said she believes that gender plays an important role when it comes to stereotyping South Asians online. She said her experience as a woman differs from those of South Asian men.

“Gender does play a huge role, and it works in a way that’s kind of opposite to what you’d think,” Azreen said. 

According to her, South Asian women fall on either side of the coin—either they are fetishized for qualities that are similar to Western beauty standards such as minimal body hair and white skin, or they are considered undesirable if their South Asian features stand out and are perceived as masculine.

“The more cultural someone looks, the more this hatred is there,” Azreen said, adding that she believes that brown women often have to go out of their way to prove their femininity when it comes to appearance. 

On the other hand, she mentioned that South Asian men are almost always perceived as being undesirable according to Western beauty standards. As an example, she stated that well-known TikTok accounts such as CityBoyJJ, known for doing street interviews in Canadian cities, reveal these harmful stereotypes to be prevalent. 

“[The interviewers] go around and ask, ‘Which ethnicity would you not date?’ And it’s always South Asian,” Azreen said. She specified that, from what she sees, these answers are often given by white women about South Asian men.

In addition to the normalized appearance-based racism she’s noticed and experienced, Azreen said that videos of violent and destructive situations from her home country have recently surfaced online, leading to a rise in ignorant and hateful comments. Bangladesh is currently undergoing a revolution, and the online response to social media footage of buildings burning and collapsing as a result of the revolution left Azreen feeling afraid.

“It’s real footage from my country, and the comments were just making fun of it as if it wasn’t real,” she said, citing comments from the video that stated things like “average day in Bangladesh” or even “average day in India.” 

But when it comes to social media, this type of reception is unsurprising to Gupta.

“We are all sucked into this kind of vortex of social media now,” Gupta said. “If [social media] is used in the best way, it can impact a lot of people. But does that happen all the time? A large cross-section of us believe that it is [solely] a mode of entertainment.” 

In general, Canada has a reputation for being an immigrant-friendly country. But people like Gupta believe that with the all-too-common instances of racism and xenophobia that South Asians experience, this reputation might not be accurate. 

“Despite all the efforts that we put into our system, into our policies, into our education and everything else,” Gupta said, “we’ve not been able to rise above this [racism].”

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 2, published September 17, 2024.

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Fighting back against transphobic movements in Montreal

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Hundreds marched for trans rights in Montreal last September. Photo Andraé Lerone Lewis

Hannah Scott-Talib,
Local Journalism Initiative

Here’s what to know about the wave of anti-trans protests happening this month.

A nationwide set of annual anti-trans rights protests are set to take place on Sept. 20. Here’s what to know about this oppressive movement, and what is being done in Montreal to counter it.

What is ‘1 Million March 4 Children’?

Under the name “1 Million March 4 Children,” the anti-trans rights protests taking place throughout various Canadian cities on Sept. 20 seek to silence trans voices and prevent children from learning content within the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum in Canadian schools. 

Those involved with the movement have expressed that they believe that the SOGI curriculum in Canadian schools is “adult-themed content” synonymous with sexual education classes, and is inappropriate for children to learn about. According to Montreal-based trans rights activist Celeste Trianon, this movement peaked in popularity at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the Freedom Convoy movement. 

Over the years, these protests have been backed by far-right conspiracy theorists and anti-public education groups. One such group, known as “Hands Off Our Kids,” states in its mission that it “refuses to stand by while the government and school system allow sexually explicit content and gender ideology to be distributed in our classrooms,” and that it strives for a school system “free from biases and indoctrination.” 

“They’ve successfully fear-mongered a lot of concerned parents,” Trianon said about these far-right groups. According to her, several of these parents are not inherently transphobic but have been pressured into believing that the SOGI curriculum is harmful to their children. However, she added that the majority of those involved with the Million March 4 Children movement are people who have “absorbed anti-trans rhetoric” and now identify with it. 

How is the Montreal community fighting back? 

In retaliation for this year’s 1 Million March 4 Children protest in Montreal, queer and trans rights advocates like Trianon have been spreading the word about a counter-protest also taking place on Sept. 20. Faction Anti Génocidaire et Solidaire—a queer collective focused on “denouncing Fierté Montréal’s pinkwashing” as stated on their website—is organizing this Montreal counter-protest. 

Trianon said she is hopeful that the turnout for this year’s counter-protest will be better than last year’s. 

“Last year with the community, the response was unfortunately not sufficient,” she said. She added that most people in attendance didn’t know what to expect, and didn’t anticipate how many people would be part of the anti-trans movement. According to her, counter-protesters were significantly outnumbered by the anti-trans rights protesters. This year, however, she believes there is more of a sense of clarity and mobilization. 

“Show up if you can,” Trianon said, “and I’m speaking especially to all the people who call themselves allies.”

Attending the counter-protest on Sept. 20 is not the only way to support the queer community at large.

“[That protest] is not the only option, and I want to make that very clear,” Trianon said. “There are other ways to support queer and trans communities.”

Trianon said that an important way to provide support is to spread awareness through the sharing of knowledge on resources for the queer community. She also encouraged people to check in on trans friends and family. 

“Ask them if they’re doing okay, which is very important right now. A lot of trans folks are not doing okay,” Trianon said. “Be there for them.”

“The anti-trans hate machine runs on billions of dollars,” she said. Contrarily, Trianon added that many resources and facilities for the queer community have little to no funding. 

“Go support a local organization and movement if you can,” she said. 

The Protect Trans Kids counter-protest will begin at 8 a.m. on Sept. 20 at 275 Notre-Dame St. E. 

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 2, published September 17, 2024.

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Concordia shuttle bus service reduced this fall

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The shuttle bus will start running at 9:30 a.m. Photo Maria Cholakov

Hannah Scott-Talib,
Local Journalism Initiative

The reduction comes as a result of the university’s financial situation

In light of Concordia University’s financial situation and subsequent budget cuts this year, the university’s shuttle bus service will be reduced this fall semester. 

From Monday to Thursday, the reduced schedule will see the shuttle bus first depart at 9:15 a.m. from the Loyola campus and 9:30 a.m. from the Sir George Williams (SGW) campus, with Friday’s schedule modifying the earliest departure from SGW to 9:45 a.m.

In comparison, last year’s shuttle bus schedule saw the bus run from around 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. across both campuses from Monday to Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:50 p.m. on Fridays. 

“The aim is to continue to provide the service to the Concordia community, even as the university navigates a difficult financial situation,” Concordia University spokesperson Fiona Downey said. “A decision on the winter term [shuttle bus] schedule will be made later in the fall.”

A budget update was posted on the university’s website on Aug. 13, explaining that the university is “facing extraordinarily challenging times” and has approved a deficit of $34.5 million for the 2024-2025 school year. 

“If the shuttle bus isn’t coming as often, it’s really going to be a problem [for me],” fourth-year psychology student Soha Hashmi said. “All of my classes are at Loyola, so [I take it] pretty much every day.” 

She added that the shuttle bus was often full when she took it last year, before the reduced schedule. 

“The amount of times I’ve had to stand in line for like 20 to 25 minutes, and then there’s such a big line around the Hall building that you still end up having to wait for the next shuttle, which takes even longer,” Hashmi said. “[It’s] to the point where, one time, my friends and I just decided to split an Uber, and everyone in line started doing the same thing.”

She said that another one of her concerns regarding the reduction relates to the safety of the shuttle bus over other public transportation measures.

“This is really going to impact everyone, but especially people like international students who don’t know their way around the city,” she said. “When you’re new to the city and you’ve never been here by yourself, taking public transport is really scary.”

Second-year student Maria José Jimenez Acosta shares Hashmi’s concerns. Jimenez Acosta said she sees the shuttle as a safe method of transport that first-year and international students can rely on to get from one campus to another. 

“If you have an 8:45 a.m. class, now you will just have to find another way,” Jiminez Acosta said. 

She added that many of her friends have labs for their classes that take place early in the day or later in the evening, which the reduced schedule would not accommodate. 

Hashmi expressed that, while she appreciated the university’s honesty about the financial situation, she wishes there could have been budget cuts made elsewhere.  

In response to The Link’s inquiry regarding the possibility of the shuttle bus being eliminated entirely by 2025, Downey stated that “depending on how things evolve, we are considering all options with regards to the university bus system.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.

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A look back on student encampments and resistance

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Students set up McGill encampment for Palestine. Photo Hannah Scott-Talib

Zina Chouaibi & Geneviève Sylvestre,
Local Journalism Initiative

The dismantling of the McGill encampment was not the end of Palestinian solidarity in Montreal

Over the past year, universities in Montreal and across the world have witnessed a surge in student activism, with campus encampments serving as symbols of Palestinian solidarity.

Antler, a camper at the McGill University encampment, who was granted a pseudonym for safety reasons, was about to leave Montreal for summer break when the encampment was erected on April 27. Instead, she chose to stay in the city to show her solidarity.

“This is a student opportunity that doesn’t happen often. It’s the first encampment in Canada, it was in a school that is already on stolen land, it had a lot of backstory to it that was very important to us,” said Antler. “At the time of the encampment, it kind of felt like it was the most we could do.”

The encampment brought unprecedented attention to the issue of divestment, highlighting activists’ demands that McGill and Concordia divest from companies with connections to the ongoing genocide and cut all academic ties with Israel.   

McGill filed three injunctions in an attempt to get the encampment removed. Two were rejected by Quebec Superior Court judges, and the last was withdrawn by McGill after the dismantlement of the camp by a private security firm on Jul. 10.

“The fact that it was forcefully removed by mercenaries only contributed positively to the momentum,” a representative from Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill said. 

According to the representative, the encampments showcased the unity and power of the student front.

“We had never seen this much media coverage on this topic despite divestment being a demand for the past two decades,” they said.

Antler was not present the day the encampment was taken down, but says she is very proud of what all the campers accomplished.

“Honestly, more than anything, more than disappointed, I was just very, very proud of how long the encampment stayed and how resilient the students were,” she said. 

The removal of the encampments did not mark the end of the divestment movement, but rather a shift in tactics. Activists like Hassan Ridha from the Palestinian Youth Movement are now focusing on long-term strategies that involve coalition-building across different communities.

“When multiple separate efforts are joined together, they become more powerful,” Ridha said.

Despite the lack of meaningful progress from university administrations, Ridha sees the rise in solidarity as a significant victory.

“I consider the unification of students, businesses, professionals and parents a major success of the encampment,” he said. 

According to the SPHR McGill representative, the Montreal community played a crucial role in supporting the encampments and keeping the movement alive.

“The Montreal community has supported us throughout the encampment with donations for what was necessary to keep the encampment alive,” the SPHR McGill representative said. “That in itself plays a huge role in achieving divestment.” 

Currently, activists like Ridha are looking to engage new supporters to sustain the movement, particularly incoming students who may be unfamiliar with the history of the encampments. 

“To engage new supporters, it is important to be as present as possible in as many places as possible,” Ridha said. He believes that by expanding the movement’s reach and involving more communities, the movement can continue to grow and evolve.

“At the end of the day, we are students who don’t want our tuition money to go to the funding of a genocide,” the SPHR McGill representative said. “That is such a simple ask: justice.” 

With files from Maria Cholakova

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.

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