McGill drops university name from Palestinian solidarity group over social media post

McGill University and the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) have revoked the McGill name from the student group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR).

The university said the move came after it reviewed a now-deleted social media post from SPHR that described the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7 and the taking of hostages as "heroic."

"The university cannot be, or be seen to be, associated with a celebration of taking of civilian hostages," McGill said in an email.

"This post by SPHR was antithetical to the university's values and stands to undermine the important work aimed at bringing our community together through the Initiative Against Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism."

In a statement on its website, SSMU said it was notified by deputy provost Fabrice Labeau that it was in default of its memorandum of agreement with the university regarding the use of the McGill name and was being given 30 days to rectify the situation. If not, the university could cut off SSMU's funding.

SSMU says those 30 days were spent holding meetings with the university and SPHR to reach a mutual agreement that didn't involve removing the McGill name from the student group — an effort it described as "not fruitful."

"We continue to take our role as liaison between student groups and the administration seriously and will continue to investigate avenues for remedial action," SSMU said in a statement.

But the SPHR says SSMU failed to represent its interests, despite being a SSMU-affiliated group, and accused the student union of "succumbing to admin pressure." In an email, SPHR told CBC its members had not met with the administration at any point this semester.

It also said McGill was using the "tactic as a distraction from the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

"We reject this unacceptable threat to intimidate and discredit Palestinian student activism on McGill campus," it said.

"This threat is an attempt for the administration to evade accountability while confronted with a student body that has been consistently mobilizing to address its complicity in the occupation of our land and genocide of our people."

The university denies that revoking the group's use of the McGill name amounts to taking a stance on the war.

"The university has clearly indicated to the SSMU that the revocation should not be interpreted as the University taking a position on the Middle East and emphasized that the University would act in exactly the same manner in regard to any club that used the McGill name when posting content of a similar nature," it said.

It's unclear how the name change will affect the student group's operations. CBC reached out to both the SSMU and the SPHR for additional information, but has not yet heard back.

A Quebec court order halted the adoption of a pro-Palestinian policy by the SSMU last month.

The policy calls on McGill University to cut ties with people, corporations and institutions that are "complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians."

The injunction came after an anonymous student filed a complaint saying the policy made Jewish students on campus feel unsafe.

Last year, McGill threatened to cut off SSMU funding and ban the student union from using the school name over the adoption of a similar policy. The university warned SSMU against adopting "contentious" policies about Palestinians.