Raihaana Adira: I’m Muslim. The anti-Israel mob had no right to crash my McGill graduation

Pro-Palestinian students disrupt graduation at McGill University on June 1, 2026. https://www.instagram.com/p/DZGjVfBNBfv/

Article content

On June 2, I attended my graduation ceremony at McGill University’s Tomlinson Fieldhouse to receive my BA in international development. What should have been one of the happiest moments of my life was hijacked by pro-Palestine students.

Article content

As a Muslim undergraduate student, I never expected my university experience would include opposing a protest movement that claimed to speak on my behalf. Yet that is exactly what happened.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Growing up in Toronto, McGill occupied a near-mythical place in my imagination. Teachers, mentors and peers spoke of it as one of Canada’s premier universities. As the granddaughter of immigrants and daughter of entrepreneurs, I saw attending McGill as an opportunity to honour the sacrifices that made my education possible.

Article content

Article content

I arrived eager to learn how to think. Instead, too often, I found myself being told what to think. While pursuing my degree in international development with minors in political science and world Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, I found that classroom discussions were often engaging, yet ideological conformity increasingly appeared to replace intellectual curiosity. This reality was on full display at graduation.

Article content

Before the ceremony began, a student approached several graduates waiting backstage. She handed us a sheet of paper containing chants and instructions. Graduation, she explained matter-of-factly, would be interrupted to protest what she described as “the genocide in Gaza.”

Article content

Within seconds of provost Angela Campbell taking the stage to address graduates from social science fields, chants erupted throughout the Fieldhouse, including: “McGill continues to fund genocide!”; “Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest!”; and “Justice for Genocide!”

Article content

Article content

For approximately three minutes, the chanting overwhelmed the ceremony. Families who had travelled across Canada and around the world to celebrate their loved one’s graduation were forced to sit through a political demonstration.

Article content

Article content

When the disruption finally subsided, some graduates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, carrying signs related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. These students received loud applause from the audience.

Article content

Watching it unfold, I felt less surprised than disappointed. The ceremony had become a reflection of what McGill has allowed itself to become. I know, because I spent much of my university experience challenging this campus culture.

Article content

Since October 7, student organizations at McGill crossed lines that would once have been unthinkable on a Canadian campus. The campus chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights referred to the attacks on social media as “heroic” and announced a celebration.

Article content

McGill’s administration publicly condemned the post, fully acknowledging that it celebrated “recent acts of terror and violence,” and that it was contrary to the university’s values.