McGill student hoping to sue university for failing to prevent antisemitism

Police separate pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators on the outskirts of a protest encampment on the grounds of McGill University, in Montreal, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press) (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

An undergrad student at McGill University is seeking court authorization for a class-action lawsuit against McGill for allegedly not protecting Jewish students from antisemitism and harassment on campus since Oct. 8, 2023.

The suit is asking for $5 million and reimbursement of a third of Jewish students’ tuition, alleging that the university allowed a culture of harassment and antisemitic activity to persist.

The court has not authorized the lawsuit to date.

David Cobrin enrolled at McGill in 2021 and is being represented by Fishman Flanz Meland Paquin LLP.

The lawsuit alleges that McGill “has been the site of a serious wave of overt anti-Zionist and antisemitic sentiment and activity, including in support of Hamas’ terrorist activity.”

The plaintiff argues that the protesters were not peaceful or using legitimate free speech but rather harassing and discriminating against students, as protest camps were set up on campus.

“In addition to the generally toxic and intimidating environment on campus created by the unabated protests, class members were blocked and prevented from attending their classes, locked in the library for their protection, subjected to hate speech, harassed on campus, and in some cases, even physically assaulted,” the suit reads.

The suit says that McGill acknowledged “the antisemitic nature of these activities” but “failed to take expeditious and meaningful disciplinary action against the perpetrators.”

The document details events from Oct. 8, 2023 and 2024, including distributing flyers, blocking access to buildings, banging on doors, throwing paint, storming buildings and shouting through loudspeakers during protests.

The suit would like McGill to declare that it breached its obligations to Jewish students by combating antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campus and acknowledge that anti-Zionism is “a manifestation of antisemitism” under the university’s policies on harassment and discrimination.

The applicant’s suit is on behalf of all Jewish students registered at McGill since Oct. 9, 2023.

The Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith is standing behind the lawsuit.

“The university has allowed the situation to get out of hand,” said B’Nai Brith Quebec and Atlantic Canada regional director Henry Topas. “Radicalized individuals, both students and non-students, are preventing Jewish students from obtaining the university experience to which they are entitled.”

Topas adds that McGill policies should have been used to rectify the situation.

“This lawsuit is the result of the university’s failure to do so, after having acknowledged that antisemitism has become a growing problem on its campus since Oct. 7,” he said.