McGill University’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights Student Group Markets Youth Summer Program

The International March of the Living has come out with a condemnation of McGill University for offering a “Youth Summer Program” with marketing materials likening the children to the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists. 

Despite public outcry and moves by McGill University to punish the organizers, the revolution summer camp hosted by the anti-Israel protest encampment at McGill University is set to continue. The organizers, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill, faced backlash over their promotional image depicting keffiyeh-clad young men with machine guns. They expressed on Instagram that the camp aims to foster collectivism and popular education in the absence of institutional support, emphasizing the revolutionary potential of the Palestinian cause and countering what they perceive as the erasure of Palestinian identity by elitist institutions.

In response to the controversy, McGill University’s administration, led by President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini, has taken strong measures to distance the institution from SPHR. These actions include increasing campus security, seeking legal action to prevent the use of the McGill name, and urging the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) to sever ties and funding with SPHR. 

The summer camp has drawn widespread condemnation from various levels of Canadian government, including Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre and Immigration Minister Marc Miller, who criticized the camp for glorifying violence and promoting hate speech. Jewish organizations such as the International March of the Living, B’nai Brith Canada and Federation Combined Jewish Appeal have also called for an end to university funding for SPHR, highlighting concerns over the indoctrination of youth with extremist ideologies.

Here’s the full statement from The International March of the Living:

International March of the Living Decries Incitement to Violence at McGill University

Holocaust survivor Angele Orosz, a Montreal resident and an educator:

” What’s happening today at McGill is so frightening for me. I was born in Auschwitz-Birkenau. I came to Canada to escape antisemitism. It’s unbearable that my grandchildren have to go through what I escaped Hungary for”.

New York, June 17, 2024 – The International March of the Living condemns in the strongest possible terms the plans announced by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at McGill University for a summer youth program promising “revolutionary” education.

March of the Living is gravely alarmed by the program’s poster featuring fighters in face-covering keffiyehs brandishing machine guns used by recognized terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which initiated the devastating attack on Israel on October 7, and Hezbollah, which is currently attacking Israel’s Northern region.

SPHR, a student-led group at McGill University, announced the ‘Revolutionary Youth Summer Program’ at McGill’s lower field, which has been home to an anti-Israel encampment since late April.

Such activities—targeting impressionable young people with posters glorifying violence—are unacceptable at an institution dedicated to the free exchange of ideas. This initiative can only severely tarnish the reputation of McGill University, one of Canada’s oldest and most prestigious universities, with a long-standing history of significant research and scholarship.

March of the Living calls on McGill University to immediately shut down these dangerous manifestations of hatred and violence, along with the removal of the illegal encampments on its campus and other schools across Canada, the US, and the world. It also calls on social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Ird8rs_Gx/?img_index=1) , to remove these violence-inciting posts immediately and to monitor for similar activity in the future.

March of the Living also joins the Montreal Jewish community, including Holocaust survivors and McGill graduates, in condemning this hateful manifesto targeting our youth.

Hungarian Holocaust survivor Angele Orosz, a Montreal resident and frequent educator at the Montreal Holocaust Museum and on the March of the Living, said: “What’s happening today at McGill is so frightening for me. I was born in December 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau. I came to Canada in 1973 to escape antisemitism, and now my grandchildren are suffering. Their school and synagogue were shot at, and now this at McGill. It’s unbearable. I am petrified of the students. This is McGill, a university of the highest standard. It’s unbearable that my grandchildren have to go through what I escaped Hungary for. I am so frustrated and upset—I cannot find the words to express my feelings. Tears are flowing.”

“Education for young people should never encourage the use of violence. When actions by students on campus, promoted by social media companies, make Holocaust survivors fear setting foot on campus and fear for the future of their grandchildren – it is clear that both the university and social media organizations have lost their way. Now it is high time to find their way back” said Shmuel Rosenman, Chair and Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, President of the International March of the Living.