Fixored

Netanyahu protest

Anti-Netanyahu protesters break windows of Hall Building, September 9, 2002.

On September 9, 2002, a scheduled visit from the then former (and now current) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cancelled after police and protestors clashed inside the building.^[46]

Before the speech was to take place, the prime minister ordered police to use intimidation tactics which incited protesters inside the building to storm barricades which had been set up to block access to the Hall building. Protestors and students who were not involved in the protest were stopped at the escalator leading to the lobby by police in riot gear. Protesters engaged in attacks on police officers, and police engaged in attacks on protestors. Innocent bystanders were forced to defend themselves from police and protestors alike, as captured on Concordia's internal security footage as well as RCMP and SPVM footage.^{[citation needed]} At this point protesters, as well as bystanders witnessing the mutual violence between police and protestors, began banging on the large windowfront of Concordia's Hall building.

For the duration of the standoff, ticket-holders pushed their way through a thick crowd of protesters and police outside the building, entering the Hall building through a secured access point complete with metal detector. They were then escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place. Ticketholders later complained that the protesters had subjected them to antisemitic slogans and even physical attack. Holocaust survivor Thomas Hecht was kicked in the groin by protesters and a local Rabbi was also physically assaulted. However, there were also a significant number of Jewish protestors who did not agree with Netanyahu's visit to Concordia University. As such, it would be irrational to imply that the protest was inspired by anti-semiticism when most protestors were actually protesting the genocide that seems to result from Netanyahu's political mandate. The Montreal police failed to bring perpetrators of protest to justice, nor were any of the police officers or ticketholders brought to justice for their legal infractions. This is probably due to the fact that all parties were responsible on some level for the violence which ensued.^{[citation needed]}

Shortly after ticketholders were escorted into the Hall building the large windowfront that protestors and bystanders were banging on shattered, prompting a police officer to immediately discharge pepper spray through the window of the Hall building, poisoning both the small minority of protestors involved and the large majority of innocent bystanders. The spray entered the building's ventilation system forcing an evacuation of the entire building. At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side was broken when protesters threw a metal barricade into it because they were being intimidated by police.

The immediate result of the protest and subsequent evacuation was the cancellation of the lecture. The university instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the banning of any events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency.

Five demonstrators were arrested,^[47] and an additional 12 faced internal disciplinary hearings under the University's Code of Rights and Responsibilities^[48]

The National Film Board of Canada documentary "Discordia", produced by Adam Symansky, documents the fallout from the "Concordia riot" by following three young Concordia campus activists.^[49][50]. In 2003 GlobalTV also aired the documentary Confrontation at Concordia, produced by Martin Himmel.

the skeleton of the text is not my doing, i just edited the facts.