Canadian politicians condemned the violent anti-Israel protests which took place in Montreal on Friday evening.
“What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling. Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote in a post on X.
“The RCMP are in communication with local police. There must be consequences, and rioters held accountable,” he added.
“This was nothing like lawful, peaceful protest. This was anarchy,” Canada’s Defense Minister Bill Blair said, speaking in Halifax.
Foreign affairs Minister Mélanie Joly added, “What we saw was not [a] peaceful protest. What we saw was actually violence, hate and antisemitism. And this has no place on our streets.”
Quebec Premier François Legault wrote on X, “The violent and hateful scenes we witnessed last night in the streets of Montreal, with attacks specifically targeting the Jewish community, are unacceptable.”
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante called the violence “shocking”, said protests like this have no place in Montreal, and thanked police for making arrests.
During Friday’s protest, the demonstrators set fire to an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then threw firecrackers at the police, smashed the windows of stores, and set fire to several vehicles.
A spokesperson for the Montreal police said officers arrested a 22-year-old woman for assaulting an officer and “impeding police work.” A 22-year-old man and a 28-year-old man were arrested as well, both for “impeding police work.”
Two groups, “Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles” and “Divest for Palestine”, had organized separate marches in Montreal on Friday afternoon to protest outside the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a meeting between alliance members that is being held in the city.
Global News reported that the two groups joined together shortly after 6:00 p.m. near the Palais de Congrès, where the NATO meeting is taking place.
The incident comes amid a spike in incidents of antisemitism in Canada since October 7, 2023. The majority of these incidents have been in Montreal and Toronto, but also in other Canadian cities.
In Montreal, a firebomb was thrown against the door of a Jewish community center in late November of 2023.
At the beginning of that month, Congregation Beth Tikvah in Dollard-Des Ormeaux was hit by firebombs.
Several days later, two Jewish schools in the city were hit with gunshots. Another Jewish school was riddled with bullets three days after that.
In July, a Jewish cemetery in Montreal was vandalized, with the vandals arranging stones over the graves into the shape of a swastika.