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Montreal court rejects McGill student’s injunction to stop law association from implementing anti-Israel boycott
A Montreal court has rejected a McGill University law student’s request for an injunction against a students’ association that voted to boycott Israeli academic institutions.
“Although I’m disappointed by the outcome, I respect the court’s decision and I appreciate the chance to participate in the process,” said Rachel Harroche. “We come from a very resilient community, and I’m very thankful for all the strong support I’ve received.”
On March 21, the Law Students’ Association (LSA) held a referendum on an amendment to the group’s constitution to enshrine a boycott of Israeli cultural and educational bodies. The vote was supported by roughly 57 per cent of McGill law students who cast a ballot, and opposed by 43 per cent.
The referendum failed to clear the two-thirds supermajority that the association’s constitution requires for a constitutional change, however the application for an injunction claims that the LSA “subsequently stated that only a simple majority of fifty per cent plus one was needed.” It is unclear what the next steps are for the LSA, which did not respond to National Post’s requests for comment.
On the morning of March 23, Harroche, a McGill University law student, filed a request for a provisional injunction to stop the LSA from implementing the boycott amendment. The application also named a campus group, Law Students 4 Palestine, which declined to give a statement.
“We will not be commenting at this time due to pending litigation,” Law Students 4 Palestine told National Post in an Instagram message.
The application for an injunction said that Harroche, a Jewish student with Israeli heritage, would be “directly and personally affected by its (the amendment’s) operative provisions,” such as McGill severing ties with Israeli schools and “the creation of a standing enforcement committee to police compliance with the boycott.”
The submission described how Harroche’s experience at McGill could be impacted by the enactment of such policies, showing that it would prohibit her from participating in exchange programs with Tel Aviv University as well as other Israeli institutions. The application said that the referendum violates existing anti-discrimination policies passed by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the university.
The proposed boycott committee, for instance, “would have a mandate to monitor and enforce compliance with the boycott across all” student association activities “creating an ongoing surveillance mechanism affecting her academic choices,” the application said. Consequently, Harroche would be exposed “to naming, shaming, and social sanction for her academic choices,” creating “a hostile and stigmatizing environment,” the legal action alleged.
Law Faculty interim dean Tina Piper and faculty provost Angela Campbell communicated similar concerns before the vote’s conclusion, calling the proposal “objectionable and regrettable,” the submission said.
“The effort to respond to this by-law has fallen so heavily on the Jewish Law Students’ Association,” the two senior administrators wrote in an email to faculty that was submitted to court. “This by-law has the effect of targeting a minority group on a specific global political issue rather than the basic functioning of the LSA and its broader mission.”
On Friday afternoon, the Superior Court in Montreal ruled against Harroche’s provisional injunction, finding her application failed to meet the threshold demonstrating urgency and irreparable harm requiring immediate relief.
Harroche’s legal team would not comment on whether the matter would be pursued further following the ruling.
“I cannot stress this enough that it was an honour to represent Rachel and help her exercise her rights to the fullest extent of the law,” said her lawyer, Nicholas Chine. “It’s the first stage of this type of litigation process, so on our end, we’re gonna review the judgment, carefully evaluate our opinions, and we’ll be taking a position in the coming future.”
Harroche said that she hadn’t been on campus since “the whole situation happened” and that she was a little anxious about “how the perception is going to be once I walk back on campus.” She added that she’d heard from Jewish, Israeli and non-Jewish students who backed her legal challenge.
“I’ve gotten support from basically all across the spectrum,” Harroche said.
McGill University told the Post that its earlier statement shared last Tuesday “stands” and that it would not be commenting further on the matter following the resignation of McGill Law School Faculty Board Advisor chairman Jonathan Amiel.
“The effects here are antisemitic, and that plain fact must guide McGill’s response,” university president Deep Saini wrote in a letter addressed to the McGill Law community on Tuesday. “Accordingly, McGill cannot and will not remain in a contractual relationship with a student association that incorporates such amendments into its governance framework.”
Saini’s strongly worded message underscored that the university would distance itself from any group that sought to implement policies that the administration views as targeting Jewish students. The university president also clarified that the student association was “independent” and the university “does not exercise direct authority” over it.
The McGill campus has become a focal point of anti-Israel activism since October 7. Amiel cited the referendum as part of “an escalating pattern of hostility toward Jewish students, faculty, and alumni met with persistent inaction.”
“An institution once defined by intellectual rigour and principled debate has, in too many instances, become an environment where being Jewish, identifying as a Zionist, or maintaining any association with the State of Israel carries professional and personal risk,” he said in a letter addressed to Saini, Piper and other senior administrators.
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