Dawson College closes Thursday as students hold Gaza solidarity strike

Dawson College will be closed on Thursday after students voted to hold a one-day strike in solidarity with Gaza.

The college announced Tuesday that classes would be canceled after receiving “several emails and calls from community members expressing concerns about the safety of students and staff on the day of the boycott,” Academic Dean Leanne Bennett said in a note to students .

“We recognize that recent events have raised tensions at the college. Our foremost concern is the safety and well-being of all our students and staff.”

The college said it will revise the academic calendar so that all exams will take place as scheduled.

Last Thursday, students voted 447 in favor and 247 against the day of strike, which one student said was a way to express their opposition to the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The Coalition de résistance pour l’unité étudiante syndicale (CRUES), a collective of student unions representing 35,000 members across Quebec, helped organize the student movement in Quebec. Similar strikes are also taking place across North America.

According to their website, more than 20 student unions inside and outside their Quebec membership have pledged to go on strike between Thursday and Friday, totaling more than 62,000 members. The Concordia Undergraduate Psychology Association (2,000 members), the General Students Association of Montmorency College (8,000 members) and the Students Arts Association at the Université du Québec à Montréal (3,400 members) are among the groups participating in the strike.

According to CRUES, the goal of the strike is to convince “institutions, companies, the federal government and the provincial government to cut all ties with Israel.”

In an interview last week, Dawson student Rhali Bitar said, “The strike is our only way to get a voice into this big issue that’s going on, like, far from here on the other side of the ocean. But it still affects every one of us day.”

Dawson acknowledged Tuesday that tensions are high leading up to the walkout and urged all students to report any instances of cyberbullying or harassment

“It is our collective responsibility to work together to create a learning environment where everyone feels safe and intimidation and violence of any kind is not tolerated,” Bennett’s memo reads.

The Dawson Jewish Student Union took issue with the wording of the question on the ballot and campaigned against the strike.

On Tuesday, two Jewish organizations — the Montreal-based Federation CJA and the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) — released a joint statement condemning Dawson’s decision to shut down and accused the college of giving in to protesters who want to “hijack “students’ access to education.

“Students have the right to participate in class, engage in free academic discourse, and pursue their educational passions,” their statement said.

McGill University and Concordia University told CTV News they have no plans to shut down on the days of the strike.

The Associated Press writes that on Tuesday that more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli raids, according to local health authorities. The killing erupted after the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people. About 100 people remain trapped by Hamas, which Canada has designated as a terrorist organization.