On September 9, 2002, a riot broke out at the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University in the Canadian city of Montreal in anticipation of a visit from Israeli former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visit, to be held at noon in the Henry F. Hall Building, was cancelled after pro-Palestinian students attacked people who were attempting to attend the event and hear Netanyahu's speech.

Afterwards, the protesters began hurling furniture from the mezzanine to the lobby,[4] and officers responded by firing pepper spray at them, which resulted in the evacuation of the building and the cancellation of classes for the remainder of the day.

Five demonstrators were arrested,[6] including vice president of the student council Aaron Maté, and an additional 12 faced internal disciplinary hearings under Concordia's Code of Rights and Responsibilities.

"[6] In the wake of the riot, Concordia University instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the banning of any events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for one month, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency.