The Concordia University Netanyahu riot occurred on September 9, 2002 on the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, when student rioters opposed a visit from the then former (and later subsequent)

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

. The visit, to be held at noon at the

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, was canceled after

pro-Palestinian Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine.de Waart, 1994p. 223 Referencing Article 9 of ''The Palestinian National Charter of 1968 ...

students and Netanyahu supporters violently clashed. Jewish student organization Hillel had invited Netanyahu to speak on campus. Several hundred demonstrators blocked attendees of the event from entering the building. The attendees were escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place, and later said the rioters had subjected them to antisemitic slogans and assault. Thomas Hecht, a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

, was kicked in the groin by protesters and Rabbi Howard Joseph and his wife Norma were assaulted and spat on.Transcript
(Appendix A to CIII-TV (Global Television) re Confrontation at Concordia (CBSC Decision 02/03-1340, -1368, -1514 and -1530, April 26, 2004)) Protestors broke into the building through a side door but were blocked on the escalators by police and began hurling furniture from the mezzanine to the lobby. The police responded by firing pepper spray, which caused the Hall building to be evacuated and classes canceled for the remainder of the day. Around 1 p.m., a large window was shattered by rioters. At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side was broken when rioters threw a metal barricade. Five demonstrators were arrested,Canada protests stop Netanyahu speech.
10 September 2002. BBC World News. including VP of the student council

Aaron Maté Aaron Maté is a Canadian writer and journalist. He hosts the show ''Pushback with Aaron Maté'' on ''The Grayzone'' and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the Useful Idiots podcast. Maté works as a reporter for ''The Grayzone'', a ...

, and an additional twelve faced internal disciplinary hearings under the University's Code of Rights and Responsibilities. Netanyahu was not present at the protest, having remained at Montreal's

Ritz-Carlton Hotel The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addi ...

throughout the duration. He later accused the activists of supporting terrorism and "mad zealotry." "They're supporting Saddam Hussein, they're supporting

asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...

Arafat, they're supporting samaBin Laden," he added. In the wake of the riot, the university instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the banning of any events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for one month, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency. The

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

documentary ''

Discordia Eris (; grc-gre, Ἔρις ', "Strife") is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her Roman equivalent is Discordia, which means the same. Eris's Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Roman counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with th ...

'', produced by Adam Symansky, documents the fallout from the riot by following three young Concordia campus activists. In 2003 GlobalTV also aired the documentary '' Confrontation at Concordia'', produced by Martin Himel. Raymond Beauchemin, a 1992 Concordia University graduate (MA, English), wrote a novel
''These Days Are Nights''
inspired by the events of the protest.

References

{{MtlHist Student protests in Canada Concordia University Israeli–Palestinian conflict 2000s in Montreal 2002 in Quebec Riots and civil disorder in Canada Anti-Zionism in Canada Antisemitism in Canada New antisemitism