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Speaking during question period at a city council meeting on April 20, Zahraa Sayed Ali addressed Montreal’s mayor, wanting the city to take a firm position on the state of Israel.
She pointed out that the city had cut ties with Amazon after the company abruptly shut down its Quebec operations. She mentioned that Montreal dramatically reduced its number of American suppliers due to the ongoing trade war.
Why, she asked, can’t the city take the political stance of severing ties with Israel?
“It’s not true that a municipality has no power,” Sayed Ali said in French. “If it’s possible to take such measures against American companies, why not with Israel, an Apartheid entity that is actively committing genocide?”
Montreal Mayor Martinez Ferrada has said that she prefers to leave it to the federal government to take a stance on what’s unfolding in the Middle East. (Ivanoh Demers/CBC/Radio-Canada)
This conversation about the City of Montreal’s stance on Israel and the conflict in the Middle East will be back during Monday’s council meeting, courtesy of a motion tabled by opposition party Projet Montréal.
Projet Montréal is calling for the city to recognize and denounce the “apartheid regime imposed in Palestine and the genocide being perpetrated there.”
The motion is asking for the city to cut ties with the current government of Israel and its institutions, notably by ceasing to invite its representative to official events held at city hall.
The motion, which was on the agenda for the June council meeting but pushed back to August, also states the importance of fighting antisemitism and all forms of hate.
The so-called yellow line delineates the parts of Gaza that are under Israeli control. Residents of Halawa Camp, seen here on Aug. 15,
say they hear fighting and worry that the line will move and they will be displaced again. (Mohamed El Saife/CBC)Antisemitism could escalate, Jewish groups say
Several groups, including B’nai Brith Canada, have been critical of the motion, calling it hateful.
Paola Samuel, B’nai Brith’s director for Quebec, doesn’t believe the city should involve itself with international conflicts.
“To decide what this country will or will not do with our ally Israel is up to the federal government,” she said. “It is not up to the municipal government, and it’s certainly not up to the opposition party in the municipal government.”But beyond that, Samuel said there is fear in Montreal’s Jewish community that if the motion passes it will stoke division.
“We’re concerned that the antisemitism that is already out of control will just escalate,” she said. “Anytime that conflict in the Middle East between Israel and whoever else is involved is spotlighted, it often will manifest on the streets as attacks against the Jewish community.”
Damages are shown at a synagogue in the on-island municipality of Westmount on June 5. It’s one of several incidents in recent months, and years, that have alarmed members of the Jewish community. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC)
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) echoed those concerns in an Aug. 12 post on X, describing Projet Montréal as having a “toxic agenda.” The group said there is already a climate in the city that contributes to antisemitic acts and this motion “only adds fuel to the fire.”
On Sunday, the group added: “A few hours before the vote, our poisition is clear. The City of Montreal has no business importing a foreign conflict to appease a radical fringe at the expense of social cohesion and the city’s true emergencies.”
“Montreal must do better than divisive policies,” the group wrote on X.
‘No contradiction’ in standing with Jewish people, denouncing Israel, councillor says
When questioned by the resident during that April council meeting, Montreal’s mayor reiterated that she would not take a position on the conflict.
Martinez Ferrada said her job is to unify the city, uphold the notion of “vivre ensemble,” — which essentially means “living together harmoniously” in English — and that it was up to Ottawa to take a stance on this issue.
Heading into Monday’s council, her office declined to comment.
Alex Norris, a Projet Montréal city councillor who co-sponsored the motion, is hopeful it will pass.
In an interview with CBC, he said it falls in line with the city’s response to human rights violations around the world. In the past the city has taken a stance on international issues, he said, including opposing apartheid in South Africa, and more recently cutting ties with the Russian consulate general in Montreal over its invasion of Ukraine.
“There shouldn’t be an exception for human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people,” Norris said.
Alex Norris, a city councillor for the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, seen here during a public security commission meeting in June 2021, is co-sponsoring the motion. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)
Highlighting the fact the motion also denounces antisemitism, Norris said standing with Jewish people in Montreal and around the world can go hand in hand with denouncing rights violations committed by Israel.
“There is no contradiction between standing side by side with the Jewish people of Montreal and Jews around the world and opposing, firmly opposing, antisemitism on the one hand, while at the same time denouncing these horrific rights violations that are being committed by Israel,” he said.
Although Montreal’s mayor has refused to take a stance, actor and director Xavier Dolan said the city’s silence is contributing to the problem and leading to greater societal harm.
He’s one of 700 members from Quebec’s arts and culture scene who signed a a joint statement calling on city council to pass the motion.
Like Norris, Dolan said there is precedent for the city taking a stand. He also says conflating Jewish identities with the crimes of the Israeli state is harmful and that a motion like the one being presented could be a step towards ending that.