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   Vol.65/No.35            September 17, 2001 
 
 
Palestinian students in Montreal answer attacks
 
BY DIMITRIS FASFALIS AND JOANNE PRITCHARD  
MONTREAL--Two Palestinian rights activists have been expelled from school by the administration of Concordia University. College officials claim Laith Marouf and Tom Keefer, both elected representatives of the Concordia Student Union (CSU), assaulted a security guard, but the students have denied the charges. Eleven people who witnessed the altercation have signed a petition demanding that a hearing be held and they be allowed to testify to the fact that it was Marouf who in fact was assaulted.

The altercation took place when Concordia's security guards escorted Marouf to the main campus of the university after he spray painted anti-Israel graffiti on the wall of a Concordia building that is currently being demolished.

Several organizations that are against the expulsions have set up a defense committee to wage a public campaign to ensure the reinstatement of the two CSU militants.

This move follows a series of other attacks against democratic rights on the campus. Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), a student-based organization, was denied the right to use Concordia land as the assembly point for a September 15 march and rally for Palestinian rights. The administration has also decided to enforce a limit on putting up posters on the campus and has called into question the right of some organizations to use university facilities.

Two English-language newspapers, The Suburban and The Gazette, have launched a ferocious campaign against the Concordia activists. The Gazette ran an August 25 editorial supporting the expulsions and the refusal by the university to allow use of their property for the September 15 rally, claiming that "it's important to safeguard the integrity of universities and not allow them to be subverted."

Despite these attacks, SPHR is proceeding with the September 15 rally, titled "End Israeli colonialism--Unite for Justice," as planned. It is being built by a coalition of more than 50 organizations and is expected to attract thousands of participants.

Among those speaking out against the attacks on the students by the Concordia University administration has been Al Cappe, Communist League candidate for mayor of Montreal. "This is an attack on the democratic rights of all," Cappe said in a statement. "Trade unions and other organizations should protest this violation. As the Israeli rulers prepare to go to war against the Palestinian people, their pro-imperialist backers all over the world will move to stifle opposition to this war. Our response to these attacks has to be one chosen by the Concordia students who are doubling their efforts to build a successful rally."

Dimitris Fasfalis is a member of the Young Socialists and of SPHR at the University of Montreal. Joanne Pritchard is a meat packer and a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
 
 
Related article:
Palestinians resist attacks, war moves by Tel Aviv  
 
 
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