Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked people from accessing the Montreal Holocaust Museum, ahead of an event that was to be attended by Israeli army reservists. According to reports heard by the press, some present at the protest shouted “Death to Israel, death to the Jews”, among other provocations.
Organizers of programming at the museum, the CJA Federation, a leading local Jewish community group, and the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued a statement during the event, saying protesters were “attempting to block access to the building and harassing those who were trying to get in.”
Furthermore, the note from the Jewish organizations denounced that the mobilization was not about political opinions or a foreign conflict, but was “an intentional intimidation of the Jews of Montreal”. According to them, “Jews should be able to assemble without the need for protection.”
The incident involved clashes with police, who used pepper spray to contain some protest participants, but there were no reports of arrests.
In a statement, the CJA and the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said they shared their security concerns with authorities before the event, citing “the last few months of escalating hate protests” in the country. Despite this, they stated that the police “were not able to maintain buffer zones and were unable to guarantee access to all entrances and exits” of the museum.
According to the Canadian channel National Post, the pro-Palestine mobilization was organized by a group of students from the public Concordia University, located in Montreal.
Cases of anti-Semitism and demonstrations against Tel Aviv's offensive in Gaza, which began after the October 7 Hamas massacre on Israeli soil, have spread throughout the countries, with several protests and attacks against Jews already recorded in recent months.
Last month, a Canadian cyclist was prevented from speaking at an International Women's Day event in the province of Ontario after pro-Palestinian groups discovered she previously served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
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