Published by The Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University.
editorial board
3480 McTavish St, Room 107
Montreal, QC, H3A 0E7
phone 514.398.6790 fax 514.398.8318
mcgilldaily.com
The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory
coordinating editor Emma Bainbridge
managing editor India Mosca
news editor Sena Ho
commentary + compendium! editor Vacant
culture editor Eliana Freelund
features editor Elaine Yang
science + technology editor Andrei Li
sports editor Vacant
video editor Magdalena Rebisz
visuals editors Vacant
copy editor Vacant
design + production editor Vacant
social media editor Vacant
radio editor Evelyn Logan
cover design Lucy Tymezuk
contributors Sena Ho, Evelyn Logan, India Mosca, Magdalena Rebisz
It’s Time to Get Mobilized!
Stepping back into student-led activism
Most of us will remember this summer as a turbulent period for McGill. We witnessed an incredible mobilization of students and community members against genocide, followed by brutal repression from the McGill administration. How can we try to summarize the whirlwind of events and emotions that took over university campuses around the world?
In a “back to school” email from Thursday, August 22, McGill Provosts Christopher Manfredi and Angela Campbell write:
“In this moment of social polarization, many intense forces stand to divide or alienate us from one another. Nonetheless, we are committed to working tirelessly to sustain collegiality, respect, and engagement even across stark differences and disagreement. We invite you to join us in this work, as this critical juncture necessitates our collective commitment and engagement. What does this mean, concretely? ”
As we begin a new school year, this question is at the centre of our concerns.
The summer of 2024 will forever be remembered for the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on the McGill lower field, built by students coming together from different universities in Montreal. This was part of a global movement calling for universities to divest from companies that support Israeli apartheid and the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The demands set by students were clear: Disclose, Divest, Defend, and Declare. The administration chose to respond by trivializing the movement, with students claiming that the university did not negotiate in good faith. The encampment was forcibly dismantled on the night of July 10.
Universities all over the world faced demands from students to divest from Israel and show solidarity with Palestinians. Rather than listening to students, academic institutions chose to bring in riot police to suppress peaceful protests. Even now, mainstream media sources persist in downplaying the significance of student demonstrations, dismissing their calls to end Israel’s genocide as juvenile and naive. Nonetheless,
this summer was a powerful demonstration of student activism. As the world seems to be crumbling underneath our feet, the power to create a better world often feels out of reach. However, the attention and backlash garnered by student movements is proof of the influence that we can have.
Student protests have time and again proven to be effective, whether in rising against racial or gender injustice, inequality, and authoritarianism. We have frequently taken the lead in movements that have been crucial in bringing about necessary social change. Some examples include the 1968 protests against the war in Vietnam, the Womens’ Rights movement, and protests against South African apartheid where McGill became the first Canadian university to divest from its holdings in the regime. Last December, the Board of Governors unanimously voted to divest from direct investments in fossil fuel companies, marking the culmination of over 12 years of student organizing. Let us continue to be inspired by this legacy and foster an environment where each and every one of us feels safe within a community where we can make change happen. This upcoming semester is an opportunity for the McGill administration to begin rebuilding trust with the student body. It is about time the McGill administration lived up to its supposed values of “integrity, equity and inclusiveness” and started truly listening to the demands of its students.
3480 McTavish St, Room 107
Montreal, QC H3A 0E7
phone 514.398.690 fax 514.398.8318
advertising & general manager Letty Matteo ad layout & design
Alice Postovskiy
Unfolding the EncampmentMcGill
A timeline of the most pressing moments from the summer encampment
Sena Ho News Editor
On April 27, McGill and Concordia students set up an encampment on McGill’s lower field to demand that their universities divest from companies funding Israeli apartheid and Israel’s current genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In doing so, they joined a larger movement of encampments erected across
campuses in North America and globally, showing solidarity with Gaza by demanding that their universities stop being complicit in genocide.
The demands of the encampment were as follows:
Disclose: The McGill Board of Governors and the Concordia Investments Committee must fully disclose all investments in companies complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Divest: McGill and Concordia must fully divest
from all complicit companies and cut academic ties with Israeli institutions.
Defend : The universities shall not pursue disciplinary charges against students taking action in support of Palestine; and will drop any pending charges against students.
Declare : The universities must issue a statement condemning the genocide against the Palestinian people and pressure the Canadian government to cease all military
contracts with Israel.
Beyond McGill, student activists across the world have taken initiative to hold their universities accountable and to pressure administrations to not only disclose their investments but also divest from funding Israeli apartheid.
The Daily has compiled a list of major developments this summer concerning the student encampment in solidarity with Palestine at McGill.
It is crucial to follow events happening on the ground in Gaza, as these directly inform why students are mobilizing in North America. We recommend following Palestinian journalists reporting on the ground, like +972 Magazine, as well as broadcast channels such as Let’s Talk Palestine for more comprehensive updates.
An encampment is organized by McGill and Concordia students on McGill’s lower field, becoming the first Canadian universities to do so. The students plan to remain indefinitely at the encampment until McGill agrees to divest.
Despite McGill’s administration requests to remove the tents, the students refuse. Fabrice Labeau sends out an email stating that the protest is currently peaceful.
McGill closes its campus, using private security guards to dismantle the encampment during the night. Protestors are escorted off the lower-field while workers hired by the university clear away the tents, signs, and tarps.
Saini states that “this camp was not a peaceful protest,” but a “a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence.”
The McGill encampment was the last encampment remaining in Quebec, as those erected at Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval, and in Square Victoria had all been taken down.
After two days, the encampment triples in size as members in the community rally around the student protestors. McGill security tells students that they “have no right to be here,” threatening to use other options to dismantle the encampment.
Labeau sends an email out stating that the administration “saw video evidence of some people using unequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour.”
President Deep Saini announces that the encampment has become unsafe with “hateful rhetoric” being “flagrantly used.” McGill announces that they are trying to de-escalate the protests and demonstrations, but the students remain adamant in their occupation on campus.
McGill ends its negotiations with encampment protesters, saying that the protesters have rejected their offers of amnesty. Saini says the university will pursue disciplinary action.
In Saini’s statement, he claims the encampment has “maintained that their demands are non-negotiable while accusing the university of unwillingness to engage in fair discussions.” The proposed offer on June 11 was rejected with protesters saying they won’t leave the encampment until the university cuts all investments connected to Israel.
Two McGill students attempt to file an injunction request against the encampment, asking to ban protests within 100 meters of McGill buildings for a 10-day period. They claim that words circulating around and within the encampment were creating a hostile and unsafe environment.
The injunction was “abusive and sought to silence all discussion that doesn’t fit within a frame that is pro-Israeli”
- Justice Chantal Masse
Judge Chantal Masse rejects the injunction made by the McGill students, stating insufficient evidence of urgency or danger to students’ access to McGill buildings.
In an email, Saini upholds that dismantling the encampment is “nonnegotiable,” offering to hold a forum with students to discuss their demands in exchange for leaving the encampment.
At this time, Montreal Police has received McGill’s request for assistance with the encampment, but have yet to make a decision.
SPHR creates a post advertising a “youth summer program.” McGill denounces the post as the image contains individuals holding assault rifles. The program seeks to inform on resistance movements that oppose Israel’s policies.
A counter-protest in support of Israel is organized on Sherbrooke, leading to heavy police presence on campus and the closure of the Roddick Gates entrance. The counter-protest lasts for a few hours, and there are no major escalations between the two groups. Quebec Premier François Legault comes out with a statement claiming that the encampment is illegal, and that the police must move in and dismantle it.
McGill makes an amnesty offer to the protestors in the encampment. Their offer proposes to review and explore new options for divestment from weapons manufacturers. The university will also grant disciplinary amnesty to participants, student or employee, in the encampment if they leave by June 16. This pardon will not extend to acts committed during the James Administration building occupation and barricade. McGill says they will disclose direct equity and fixed income investments below $500,000 and create a mandate to support Palestinian scholarship at McGill.
A press conference by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), Profs4Palestine, and the Mohawk Mothers is held in the encampment.
Students explain that they have presented their demands to the university and are waiting on a concrete plan for divestment. Until such an agreement is met, they will continue to maintain the encampment.
At this press conference, students reveal that McGill has been instructing their security to restrict certain basic necessities from entering the camp, such as porta-potties and COVID-19 masks.
McGill University requests an injunction to remove the encampment by use of the SPVM, and they announce that convocation ceremonies will be moved from the lower field. In their request they refer to the encampment as a “fortress” and a “village,” with “occupants” posing safety and health risks.
Students hold another press conference affirming that they will not move until their demands are met.
After filing for an injunction, McGill goes to court against the encampment.
Court documents reveal that McGill previously asked the SPVM to intervene, but the SPVM refused and asked the university to resolve the situation peacefully.
The Montreal Police arrest 15 people involved in the James Administration building occupation; 13 on the account of entering and breaking, and two for interfering with police officers.
“What we saw on Thursday – and what we have seen increasingly, during a troubling escalation of intimidating and often illegal activities in recent weeks – is not peaceful protest”
- President Deep Saini
Student protestors barricade themselves inside of the James Administration building as a result of McGill’s continued investments in genocide and in response to calls to escalate for Rafah.
Police arrive on the scene, using tear gas and pepper spray on the protesters while also charging at them with shields pushing them away from the building and toward the Roddick Gates. The protesters are escorted from the building, and police say arrests will be made.
Emma Bainbridge | Coordinating Editor
Nakba Day marks the 76th year of the Nakba. Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc St-Pierre denies McGill’s injunction request, describing it as “ill-founded” and suggesting that the school modify it to refile.
Montreal activists glue childrens’ shoes and red paint to the steps of the Arts Building to honour the Palestinian children killed by Israel, whose deaths they view McGill as complicit in.
Naksa Day marks 57 years since the Naksa or the “setback,” when Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, which displaced 300,000 Palestinians.
The McGill Hunger Strike officially ends, with strikers saying that they “are no longer willing to risk our lives and bodies for the genocidal killing machine known as McGill.”
McGill files its second injunction against the encampment, arguing under the basis of legal rights and claiming the campus as private property. Talks between administration and students within the encampment are revealed to have halted after McGill filed for its first injunction.
Students organize a banner drop on the construction site of the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute, an institute funded by billionaire and self-appointed “ambassador for Israel” Sylvan Adams. According to SPHR McGill, two people nearby were arrested.
Saini sends out an email update condemning several actions of the encampment, such as protesting outside of Angela Campbell’s house and setting a table of rotten food for the McGill Office of Investments. He admits that while the university has asked the SPVM to “take every action possible under the law” to dismantle the encampment, the SPVM have refused. He emphasizes that while McGill “offered to examine divestment from companies whose revenues largely come from weapons,” it will continue to take a so-called “neutral institutional stance.”
Saini publishes an op-ed in the Montreal Gazette arguing that the McGill encampment “isn’t a peaceful protest; it’s an unlawful occupation.” He states that the university and the protestors have tried to reach a mutual understanding, but the “occupants continue to eschew meaningful conversation.”
To celebrate its 30th day, members of the encampment organize a day of family-friendly workshops, art, and teachins for the community. Activities include a “Mapping Palestine” workshop for kids; a talk from Michelle Hartman and Malek Abisaab about their book What the War Left Behind: Women’s Stories of Resistance and Struggle in Lebanon; a photo exhibition from the early days of the encampment; and a teach-in on the history of Palestinian student activism at McGill by SPHR.
“We are calling on material and tangible results for divestment”
- SPHR McGill Spokesperson
Are Basic HTML Websites the New Zine?
A conversation discussing digital nostalgia and the changing internet landscape
Evelyn Logan Radio Editor
The other day, I sat down to interview Zach Mandeville, the creator of coolguy.website. Coolguy. website is Mandeville’s longtime creative repository which he coded himself. The website is made up of different subsections and articles that operate like blog posts, each having a unique aesthetic and vibe. The one that drew me in was “Basic HTML Competency Is the New Punk Folk Explosion!”, one of many featured articles on his website.
Marked by Mandeville’s characteristic frankness, “Basic HTML Competency Is the New Punk Folk Explosion!” discusses the nostalgic internet of his hazy childhood memories. He makes a point to differentiate the internet from social media, terms which have become nearly synonymous, and tries to steer the reader in a new direction. He characterizes the internet as a counterbalance
for social media: where social media has turned into a breeding ground for social comparison, algorithms, and rumination, he finds that building your own website can allow for more creativity and self-expression without the watchful eyes on big platforms. In this sense, HTML websites function like zines, a medium which has long been popular due to its simplicity and accessibility to artists, writers, and activists alike, and which also gives creatives an avenue to put their work directly into the world without having to brave the publishing industry.
After reading the article, I had a conversation with Zach about all things social media and the internet.
Interview edited for clarity and content.
Evelyn Logan for the McGill Daily: So I read “Basic HTML Competency Is the New Punk Folk Explosion!” and I realized it was posted in 2016. Is this a project that you started working
on back then, or if not, where did the project begin for you?
ZM: Yeah, it started in 2016. I was doing comedy in New York and then working for this startup company, and I was on this trip with a friend and he was bringing up brutalist websites and how he had been getting into them. I was trying to move through this web-flow site so I could have an artist page while going through the beginning of a pretty heavy creative burnout. So I was feeling fed up with the way that tech was influencing my artistic creation, especially anything that you’re going to try to put out, you’re supposed to put them out in certain formats at a certain rate to develop your brand. And I was trying to go hard into that and then just feeling awful all the time. So I made an extremely simple website as an experiment and loved it to such a heavy degree and it just grew from there. So there’s been so many different stages of that site and it’s gotten far more obsessive or mystical
or something. There are times when I get embarrassed by the site and then it just keeps returning good stuff to me, and I get “big picture” thinking. It is essentially a home, a
“It is essentially a home, a little digital home on the web... it’s entirely your own words, even if the words are just HTML... it’s entirely language.”
– Zach Mandeville
little digital home on the web.
And when it’s entirely your own words, even if the words are just
HTML, but it’s entirely language, you know what I mean? It is just your text. Nothing is stopping it from existing forever, which is also a crazy way to think about making stuff where there is no timeline... And so realizing that it’s going to be a site that my grandkids will know me from, you know what I mean? The 80-year-old website -- there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be. And with that sort of thing in mind, it just becomes far more of a comforting, familiar thing instead of a work to produce.
MD: Going back to your article, you mentioned how HTML and those websites are going to supersede paper and other kinds of physical media. For me, as a print artist and someone who writes for a newspaper, is super threatening. How deep does that belief go for you?
ZM: I love both. I really love physical things. I get really excited about the magical side, I guess, of the digital stuff, but it’s really easy to get burnt out. I feel
Alice Shen
culture
like seeing tech as the answer is never actually the case. It’s an illusion. And yeah, there’s something really enrapturing about it that you want it to be the answer to everything. And that’s not true. I guess [the] differences [between] 2016 and now, I was probably more gung ho than I am now. A lot of the site you see is made to exist simultaneously as paper zines. And so I have paper zine versions of a lot of those pages or whatever, and I’m trying to figure out the balance of that.
I think we’re at a really interesting spot in which there’s a notion of oral culture and then there’s some form of writing that gets introduced and your brain shifts over, and you’re now just in a written mode or there’s the distinction of culture in oral traditions versus a written tradition. However, with the digital, we’re in some sort of thing that is media instead of oral or written. And our newer tradition seems to be closer to oral culture to me, which is bizarre. It
“When I was a teen, I was in the strong “Web 2.0 era” where every band had its own website and each website had its own forum.”
– Zach Mandeville
is all written, but it’s not meant to be archived. It’s coming as a stream all the time and even within the stream, so much of it is how well you can remember or be able to access and recall a thing, but that thing might be a video or a picture or some mix of that. And often the written thing that you’re sharing isn’t even what it represents. It doesn’t make sense out of context.
And that’s true of all things. For example, a book kind of exists as its own object. But if you were to share a meme completely out of context, it wouldn’t make sense. You need to have the context; including the before and after and the thread it came out of and the replies to it, all of that is necessary. And you sort of see that people repeat the same things because you think it’s going to be lost, and so you try to bring it back into the focus or whatever. So there is this bizarre making peace with things being lost, along with this idea that you need to preserve them through repetition of patterns. But then simultaneously, we’re still in a world in which we could archive everything… And so they see people who are
desperately trying to do that by saying, I’m going to record every book I’ve ever written or every book I’ve ever read (think of platforms like Goodreads or Letterboxd), and that wasn’t as big of a deal to people in the previous generations… There’s this notion of having to record every possible thing, but we’re so inundated that it’s impossible to actually do that. And so you’re constantly tense about that, if that makes sense.
MD: It almost feels feverish the way that some people want to hang on to not just things that they’ve seen or done, but also a sense of identity. The idea of: this is who I am, this is who I want to be, this is how I want to be perceived, which doesn’t allow for any fluidity or elasticity in their idea of self. When looking at your project, I felt like there is room for evolution. Websites built with HTML can be changed and edited, but on social media where there’s such a big audience and you feel like you’re being perceived by everybody, it’s almost this Panopticon prison kind of illusion where it can cause users to feel like they have to be the image of the person that they’ve created and they can’t deviate from that constructed digital self for fear of harsh judgement.
ZM: Absolutely. Yeah. And then you’re also managing multiple “masks” and accounts — there’s a weird political aspect where it’s just a given that you’re going to have four to five accounts for these different “roles”. For example, a separate account in which you want to “ironically” follow things that if people thought you were following seriously would ruin the image you’ve created of your real identity. So you have your alternate account, and a
personal account, and a business account. I’ve seen my nephews and niece do that… Teenagers are already juggling multiple identities. And definitely I think if you were to look back three generations ago, that would not be the case. You are allowed to have your ages. I’ve entered this age, I’ve entered this age, I’ve entered this era. And it’s harder to do that now.
recommendations and film recommendations and language built around this interest, but at the same time the structure of the site is influencing the conversation topics in the rooms that you could go to… Unfortunately, now it’s all kind of the same. You have one feed, you follow different people’s accounts, but the structure of the accounts isn’t different.
“You’re also managing multiple ‘masks’ and accounts — there’s a weird political aspect where it’s just a given that you’re going to have four to five accounts for these different ‘roles’...teenagers are already juggling multiple identities.”
– Zach Mandeville
MD: Going back to the idea of youth and what things were like before, what was it like for you growing up when you were a teen? How did you interact and behave with others on the internet?
ZM: So I am 38 now, and the internet did not exist when I was a kid-kid. Until there was a certain moment where it got added to the house or whatever. When I was a teen, I was in the strong “Web 2.0 era” where every band had its own website and each website had its own forum. I remember I was really excited by the web zines and especially this one British music web zine in which I was able to discover British artists that my friends hadn’t heard about. And so you’re learning music
And then I remember probably the most teenage thing being that we all had Live Journals or Diary Land, and so we were all keeping our own blogs that were read by 13 people because it was your friend group that also doubled as a diary circle and then you would navigate through all of them… And I think one other big aspect of [those platforms] is that everything had an HTML editor in this era… There was self-expression and just full focus on the self.
MD: Exactly. I think that idea of community draws a stark contrast with what we’re seeing on social media. There isn’t that much of an emphasis on social connection, instead it seems like most platforms are geared towards generating monetary growth. How do you feel about that?
ZM: Real bad? I think it’s just extremely weird in a way that we will understand in another generation. I think it’s hurting us in ways that are obvious to us and in ways that won’t be obvious to us. In the same sort of way where we can now objectively look back at the baby boomers and say, because you had this experience, this is why you act that way. That’s probably going to happen with our generation like, oh, yeah, this is what this did to us.
MD: What has working on this project taught you?
ZM: HTML. [laughs] Yeah, to be honest, I started out just making the little webpage and then that got me super into the structure of the text and CSS. And then I met a friend who taught me how to access a server and push my stuff up. And now 10 years later, I still work with her through these weird roundabout things. So the site, that little bit of HTML, taught me how to manage a server, how to manage domain names, how to do CSS, and all that sort of stuff which led to incredible things. I live in New Zealand now, and it introduced me to friends in New Zealand and helped me get to New Zealand. [The website] is like this charmed object that is also still my home. It’s a room I visit. It’s not a blog in which I’m producing stuff. It’s a space I inhabit for a while that will develop furniture that I am fond of, and every now and then move around or whatever, but that continually brings new knowledge and opportunities.
Akanksa Chauba
What the Daily Read This Summer!
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah
Cahalan
I picked up this book when staying at a guesthouse with no wifi and found myself unable to put it down! This autobiography chronicles Cahalan’s experience with a rare autoimmune disease, encompassing her journey to a life-saving diagnosis and recovery once she was able to get treatment. Drawing on her skills as an investigative journalist, Cahalan pieces together her “month of madness” through testimonies from family and friends, medical documents, and videos to recount this lifechanging experience.
– Emma Bainbridge, Coordinating Editor
A Chinese classic I read this summer and the previous two summers, too—though I didn’t finish the first time, to my regret. You may recognize this epic as the source material for the hit game Black Myth: Wukong, but its story and legacy have already been entrenched into centuries of folklore. A satire of celestial politics? A critique of religious power? A hero’s journey in search of freedom and enlightenment? Featuring a weary Buddhist monk, a genderfluid monkey with “trouble” as their middle name, and a crew of misfits who’ve inhabited the collective consciousness of generations of Chinese children, inspiring them to forge their own destinies like the heroes of legend.
– Andrei Li, Sci+Tech Editor
Daringly imaginative and penned with devastating authenticity, Babel by R. F. Kuang takes readers through the thinnest of veils between worlds into an alternate history of Great Britain during the height of its colonial empire. It follows Robin, a young Chinese boy taken from his plague-ravaged home town of Canton by a mysterious British professor who promises to train him in the art of languages so that he may one day become a translator at Babel, the prestigious institution at the heart of the Empire which holds the secrets to its unrivaled might. Scholars at Babel practice silverwork, imbuing the precious metal with the power of words that are caught in translation between different languages. Robin begins his training only to find himself quickly caught up in a web of affairs outside his control, implicating himself in a series of crimes against the nation as he inadvertently starts to tangle with an enclave of former translators planning a deadly revolution. He grapples with his inherent otherness to the institutional monolith, trying to come to terms with both his identity and the cycle of exploitation in which he is becoming complicit – the Empire is sustained by conquest and the subsequent supply of newly subjugated languages from which its silver-smiths can derive ever more power. But even Babel’s scholars agree: “Every translation is a betrayal.” The paradox inherent in such a phagocytic system as Kuang’s imaginary Britain, an outsize behemoth of industry and dominion, becomes starkly apparent as she hints at the impossible scope of its colonial treachery.
– Elaine Yang, Features Editor
In the Eye of theWild by Nastsassja Martin
Tomorrow, andTomorrow, andTomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Tomorrow, andTomorrow, andTomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is one of those books that force you to ponder the nature of the human experience. The novel centers around the relationship between the two main characters: Sam and Sadie. We get to see these characters grow and change from both perspectives as they move in and out of each other’s life, while never truly losing sight of one another. This book focuses on complex relationships like Normal People by Sally Rooney, but with the backdrop of video games and the added intricacies of our contemporary society. Tomorrow, andTomorrow, andTomorrow is for the reader that has a hankering for complexity and stories that unfold within the little details. It’s really good for when you’re feeling uninspired by books altogether.
– Evelyn Logan, Radio Editor
“The bear left some hours ago now, and I am waiting, waiting for the mist to lift. The steppe is red, my hands are red, face swollen and gashed, unrecognizable. As in the times of myths, obscurity reigns; I am this blurred figure, features submerged beneath the open gulfs in my face, slicked over with internal tissue, fluid, and blood: it is a birth, for it is manifestly not a death.” These are the opening lines of Nastassja Martin’s chilling and yet poetic book In the Eye of theWild. She tells the story of her “encounter” with a bear in the mountains of Kamchatka, on the edge of Siberia, to carry out an anthropological study among the Evens. As the book unfolds we get more glimpses of this moment where the human and animal world collided. The local populations call survivors “marked by the bear” medka meaning that you become half human half bear. Martin writes in a fascinating way about her rebirth and her inaptitude to re-enter the world as if nothing happened. Her story intertwines physical scars, a necessity to survive and a call to the grandeur of nature. The book isn’t meant to appeal to your sympathy, on the contrary it is an invitation from the author to follow her in the coldest parts of Russian wildlife – where myth meets reality – and into the some parts of her mind.
–
India Mosca, Managing Editor
Journey to theWest by Wu Cheng’en
Babel by R. F. Kuang
Looking Back on the Paris Olympics
Why is it never just about sports?
India Mosca Managing Editor
The Olympic Games wrapped up a few weeks ago, and as the excitement fades and we return to the realities of school, I want to take this moment to pause and look back at its events.
The McGill Daily started in 1911 as a paper covering student activities and sports events. With my limited knowledge in the sports arena, I find myself wishing for the guidance of our founding editors.
The Summer Olympics this year were set in Paris between July 26 and August 11. The United States dominated with a total of 126 medals, right ahead of China (91) and Britain (65). Team Canada won 27 medals despite being embroiled in a series of dronespying scandals.
Spending the summer in France with my family meant that it was almost impossible to avoid having a conversation about the opening ceremony, the performance of swimmer Léon Marchand, minister Oudea Castera swimming in the Seine, or my personal favorite: the Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç’s nonchalant pose with his hand in his pocket. For two weeks, it seemed as though everything revolved around the Olympic flame.
This said, these 15 days of global competition left me somewhat puzzled and confused. The unexpected reaction to the Games, especially on the part of French people, is what surprised me most at first. Just weeks ahead of the events, France found itself in a
While the Olympic flame brings people together from around the globe, it has also shown the potential to intensify the deepest divisions and instabilities of the time.
political deadlock following two unforeseen rounds of legislative elections that threatened a bleak future. For months, we heard complaints about Paris being flooded by tourists, the unreasonable price of the metro, and outrageous rent prices due to the upcoming Games. The Games are over and all of these problems remain; yet, upon exiting the Games, the image France presents to the world has become one of newfound self-confidence, pride and some might even say sympathy. After spending a hefty sum of 4.8 billion dollars planning and organizing the global event, I’d say it’s best to be content with the results. France won 64 medals, finishing in fifth place, and despite all the tensions and conflicting insecurities, the Games kept citizens glued to their TV screens, rooting for their team –united. Isn’t it absurd that Léon Marchand managed to garner more support than any candidate in the legislative elections?
Enough about politics. But is that even possible? Sports and politics have always been intertwined. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) persists in declaring that the Games should remain politically neutral, but this goal has always been far-fetched. While the Olympic flame brings people together from around the globe, it has also shown the potential to intensify the deepest divisions and instabilities of the time. Since their debut, the Games have been a hub of political action and protest. In 1920, the countries defeated during World War I were denied participation in the Games. Later, in 1968, U.S. track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their hands in the Black Power salute. Many African countries boycotted the 1976 Montreal Games after the IOC allowed New Zealand to compete, despite the nation’s rugby team playing in racially segregated South Africa.
Rule 50 of the Olympic charter states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Needless to say that in Paris, this did not go as planned. Controversies at this year’s tournament concerned the ongoing genocide in Gaza, gender identity and inclusivity, and France’s restriction on the hijab among other issues. Many expressed outrage over Israel’s participation in the Games, instead of receiving the same
sanctions as Russia and Belarus over their invasion of Ukraine.
Even Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, used the games as a political truce to delay appointing a new prime minister. The end of the Games felt like the end of an enchanted dream. Despite the IOC’s best efforts to portray the Olympics as an apolitical, ideal utopia straight out of the Greek myths, this failed. The Olympic Games have always been, and will forever be, steeped in turbulent political currents.
Overall, though, the Paris Olympics delivered! The Games kept us entertained in all of their glamour, presenting a dream-like sequence. But waking up from this one won’t be an easy task!
This tension creates a mixed feeling between the lightness of competition and the grim reality of a world where the ideals of freedom and justice are crumbling away. Should we feel guilty for having binge-watched the matches and admired the athletes’ abs? It can feel good to watch the Games: you feel pride, belonging, and a sense of being part of something greater.
But I cannot stop thinking that the Games are as fleeting as fireworks: one second they shine and you can’t take your eyes off them, and the next they disappear into thin air, leaving only strange marks in the sky and a noxious smell.
The Olympics are not just for entertainment. The commitment and involvement necessary are too substantial. While I don’t have answers to most of the questions I’ve alluded to, I am of the opinion that they shouldn’t be completely written off. I would say that in light of everything happening, the possibility of uniting shouldn’t
be forgotten. I am still left with mixed feelings, but it’s clear that sports build our collective sense of community. However, this should not impede us from seeing beyond the fireworks: it is our and our governments’ role to address the power dynamics at play, to prove that the Olympics are not just a smokescreen to distract from more pressing issues.
All members of the Daily Publications Society (DPS), publisher of The McGill Daily and Le Délit, are cordially invited to its Annual General Assembly:
Wednesday, October 2nd @ 6:00 pm McGill University Centre, 3480 Rue McTavish, Room 107
The general assembly will elect the DPS Board of Directors for the 2024-2025 year.
DPS Directors meet at least once a month to discuss the management of both Le Délit and The McGill Daily and get to vote on important decisions related to the DPS’s activities.
The annual financial statements and the report of the public accountant are available at the office of the DPS and any member may, on request, obtain a copy free of charge.
Questions?
Send email to: chair@dailypublications.org
Magdalena Rebisz | Visuals Editor
BACK TO SCHOOL HOROSCOPES
Aries (Mar 21Apr 19)
The walk to McMed isn’t that bad. Put in some good beats and power through it!
Taurus (Apr 20May 20)
Just because your apartment is perfect doesn’t mean that you should never leave it!! Go outside and enjoy the warm weather. You might be surprised at what’s in store for you!
Cancer (Jun 21Jul 22)
Stop crying over your bad schedule! You still have until the end of add/drop to Figure it out.
Libra (Sept 23Oct 22)
This is the time to try the hotdogs from the hotdog guy! Might be revolutionary.
Capricorn (Dec 22Jan 19)
Take it easy, you don’t need to get to class half an hour early.
Leo (Jul 23Aug 22)
You can’t be the main character in every class… eventually someone is gonna have better drip than you. Treasure the warm weather and experiment with fun styles!
Scorpio (Oct 23Nov 21)
Halloween (and your birthday) is coming!! Start planning your costume now.
Aquarius (Jan 20Feb 18)
You areflFLawless!!! Change nothing, sweetheart.
Gemini (May 21Jun 20)
It’s never too early to start doing the readings. It’s the season to work hard, play hard!
Virgo (Aug 23Sept 22)
Go check out OAP!! It is actually worth the hype (we promise).
Sagittarius (Nov 22Dec 21)
It’s time to explore! Try joining an intramural league.
Pisces (Feb 19Mar 20)
It is not demure to show up to class with an empty tote bag...
