Pro-Palestinian Protesters Gather Near McGill on Oct. 7 Anniversary

There is a particular weight to an anniversary—a weight made of memory and grief, of the passage of time that does not diminish the pain but only changes its shape, of the rituals that communities create to mark what they have lost and what they continue to fight for. On Tuesday, the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered near McGill University in Montreal to denounce Israel and to call for an end to the war in Gaza. The demonstration was one of many held across Canada and around the world, each reflecting the deep divisions that the conflict has created and the ways in which those divisions have become part of the fabric of campus life.

The protest near McGill drew hundreds of people, many of them students, who carried Palestinian flags and signs reading "Free Palestine" and "End the Occupation." The demonstration was organized by a coalition of student groups and community organizations, and it was held on the street outside the university's downtown campus, where a pro-Palestinian encampment had been dismantled by police earlier this year. Speakers denounced what they described as Israel's genocide in Gaza, called for McGill to divest from companies linked to Israel, and demanded that the Canadian government impose sanctions on Israel.

The protest was met with counter-demonstrations from pro-Israel groups, who gathered nearby to commemorate the victims of the October 7 attacks and to call for the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. The two groups were separated by police lines, and the demonstrations remained largely peaceful, though there were tense exchanges between individuals on both sides. Montreal police said they had made no arrests and reported no major incidents.

The anniversary comes amid a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and ongoing negotiations over the territory's future. The war, which began with the October 7 attacks that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis, has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza. The conflict has divided campuses across North America, where pro-Palestinian encampments and protests have become a defining feature of the past two years. McGill has been at the center of the controversy in Canada, with its administration facing criticism from both sides for its handling of the protests and its response to allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

For the protesters near McGill, the anniversary was a day of mourning and a day of resolve. For the counter-protesters, it was a day of remembrance and a call for justice. The two groups stood on opposite sides of the street, separated by a line of police officers, each holding their own narrative of the same events. The war in Gaza continues, the hostages remain in captivity, and the debate over what happened on October 7—and what should happen next—remains as polarized as ever. The protest ended in the evening. The divisions did not.

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Sources: CBC News, CTV News, Montreal Gazette, The Canadian Press