The Arts Building at McGill University. Photo: Edward Bilodeau.

JNS.org – McGill University in Montreal announced on Tuesday that the Student Society at McGill University (SSMU) will not be ratifying the Palestine Solidarity Policy referendum that had been passed in late March.

That resolution, which was heavily anti-Israel, led to protests by Jewish students and alumni, as well as Jewish groups and organizations. McGill officials had threatened to take action against SSMU if it accepted the referendum.

According to a letter sent to students and others at the school by Fabrice Labeau, McGill’s deputy provost for student life and learning, the SSMU board of directors “recognized, through its own independent examination of the policy and possible consequences of its adoption, that the policy was not tenable given SSMU’s duties to all students. I am reassured by the actions of the SSMU board, which are, in my opinion, responsible and appropriate.”

However, Labeau made clear that “activism has a place on our campuses. This includes pro-Palestinian activism.”

“When organizations whose mission is to represent all students within our community take firm stands on divisive issues that go as far as denouncing certain identities, political ideologies, and lived experiences, some students will invariably experience exclusion and alienation,” he wrote. “I have seen and heard time and again how such actions make members of our community legitimately feel singled out, unwelcome, and even, at times, unsafe. This cannot be accepted in a community like ours, committed to respect and inclusion.”