Concordia University closed its downtown Montreal campus on Tuesday after two individuals unaffiliated with the school disrupted a class the previous day, one of them carrying a metal bar and incendiary devices.The arrests heightened anxieties during the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, prompting administrators to take what they described as a preventive measure to safeguard students and faculty.While Concordia has experienced recurring demonstrations since 2023, this is the first time it has suspended operations..Concordia University closed its downtown Montreal campus on Tuesday after two individuals unaffiliated with the school disrupted a class the previous day, one of them carrying a metal bar and incendiary devices. The arrests heightened anxieties during the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, prompting administrators to take what they described as a preventive measure to safeguard students and faculty.While Concordia has experienced recurring demonstrations since 2023, this is the first time it has suspended operations.The university’s decision quickly became a flashpoint online. A viral post on X (formerly Twitter) sharing the announcement drew thousands of replies, with many users accusing Concordia of enabling pro-Palestinian radicalism through lax enforcement of campus policies. Others defended the closure as a necessary step to prevent further disruptions on an already volatile day..Tensions extended beyond Concordia. At McGill University, Professor Giulia Alberini notified students that she was canceling her class in order to participate in an October 7 “strike.”The announcement drew sharp backlash, with critics alleging that students felt “terrified” to confront their instructors or complain to administrators about political activism overriding classroom obligations. Commentators said the episode reflected the power imbalance between students and faculty at a time of deepening polarization.In Toronto, Earl Haig Secondary School also faced criticism after playing the Canadian national anthem in Arabic during its morning announcements. Former Member of Parliament Kevin Vuong, a vocal advocate on Jewish community issues, condemned the act as “insensitive at best, or deliberately harmful” to the school’s large Jewish population, particularly on the date commemorating the Hamas assault that killed 1,200 Israelis..The Toronto District School Board has not yet issued a statement, but online reactions were overwhelmingly negative, with many calling for the dismissal of the staff responsible. Critics argued that the incident fits a broader pattern of inadequate responses to antisemitism in Canadian schools, with the TDSB previously scrutinized for its handling of protests and biased programming since 2023.Taken together, the controversies at Concordia, McGill, and Earl Haig reflect a fraught climate across Canadian education, where questions of safety, accountability, and free expression collide against the backdrop of global conflict.From universities grappling with campus security and faculty activism to high schools facing accusations of insensitivity, the second anniversary of the Hamas attack has underscored how deeply divisions are felt in classrooms as much as in public squares.
