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Montreal’s mayor and police must take a stronger stance on anti-Israel protests, say local politicians
Montreal police (SPVM) are failing to use Criminal Code provisions and municipal bylaws to address unlawful and hate-related activities in the city on a regular basis, and a stronger tone needs to be set, say a trio of Montreal-area politicians.
Writing to Mayor Valérie Plante on Dec. 18, Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, along with Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein and Westmount Mayor Christina Smith, expressed “deep concern” about the SPVM’s failure to address unlawful assembly, incitement to hatred, mischief, disturbing religious worship and intimidation, while preferring de-escalation in most cases.
Acknowledging civilian police oversight cannot direct daily operations or how cases are handled, the group wrote, “We can address deficiencies in policy and strategic guidance that have emboldened hate activists to regularly violate the law, without consequence.” The three signatories want to see policy direction to ensure zero tolerance for antisemitic crime and activity in Montreal, and “police robustly use the criminal law tools and municipal bylaws available to them to protect the public.”
They cite damage at Concordia University on Nov. 21 and Palais des congrès on Nov. 22 as a result of violent protesters; intimidation by demonstrators outside Shaar Hashomayim synagogue on Nov. 5, despite a court injunction; and activities in Westmount involving clear violations of municipal bylaws, among other instances. “The approach taken by SPVM appeared to be rooted, at least in part, in the desire to de-escalate, and thereby reduce violence,” which they say is a commendable goal—but add the current approach is flawed.
“Over-reliance” on non-enforcement to de-escalate has emboldened protesters and demonstrators to engage in intimidating, violent acts and unequivocal hate speech, they say, which police fail to recognize at protests, demonstrations and riots. “This hate speech promotes fear, emotional trauma and psychological harm on targeted community members, affecting the community’s perceived safety. It normalizes hatred, creating a culture that marginalizes those affected and makes future discrimination, hate crimes and general violence more likely.”
They contend the SPVM approach undervalues and undermines the rationale of criminalizing wilful promotion of hatred and betrays a lack of understanding of the full range of tools available to police. If the goal is to de-escalate and reduce violence, “the goal is not succeeding. Montreal, more than any other city in our country, is witnessing protests that are not peaceful, as hatemongers believe they can act with impunity, with few if any consequences.”
The City of Montreal & its police force need to improve the way they police demonstrations. Following meetings with Mayor Plante & police, Mayors @mbrownsteincsl & @smithwestmount & I have written to Mayor Plante to explain what needs to change & how to do it. pic.twitter.com/poo83sOeAR
— Anthony Housefather (@AHousefather) December 19, 2024
While Housefather, Brownstein and Smith took pains to praise officers on the ground and efforts to protect Jewish institutions since October 2023, they contend the SPVM is also undermining constitutional rights of those victimized.
They reminded Plante about Rabbi Adam Scheier, who was ordered by police to leave a Montreal street corner as a pro-Palestinian demonstration passed to avoid inciting the crowd, “in the misguided belief that intimidation is best addressed by capitulating to those who might hate a man wearing a kippah.” A few weeks earlier, Rabbi Scheier and attendees were advised by police to leave their synagogue through the back door to avoid an illegal demonstration.
They want the agglomeration (which governs shared municipal services like the SPVM but is effectively controlled by the City of Montreal) to have police use existing provisions to address unlawful activities associated with anti-Israel protests; conduct specialized training on hate crime investigations (repeating a request to call on Toronto attorney Mark Sandler to train police in hate crime investigations); implement zero-tolerance for antisemitism and other forms of hate; and ensure robust enforcement of all relevant laws.
The letter details how Criminal Code provisions may be applied but are ignored, for example, participating in unlawful assemblies and wearing masks or disguising oneself pursuant to section 66. Incitement to hatred, mischief, disturbing religious worship, counselling terrorist activity, and intimidation have all been duly recorded and witnessed multiple times over the last year by Montrealers, Jews and non-Jews alike, yet the SPVM, they write, continues to look the other way, preferring maintaining peace over enforcing order.
Missing from the Montreal police toolkit, they contend, is understanding the significance of protesters’ language and symbols, which requires expertise, noting some protest activities “speak powerfully to wilful promotion of hatred and incitement to hatred,” including glorification of terrorist symbols, slogans, and activities, praise for Oct. 7 architect and deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The letter was copied to SPVM Chief Fady Dagher, Chief Inspector Mohamed Bouhdid, and other elected officials, along with Deborah Lyons, the federal special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism. It was delivered the same day as an appeal from the United Against Hate Canada (UAHC) advocacy group, urging all suburban mayors to address the issue.
Montreal has become the epicentre of antisemitism in Canada, says UAHC director general and former Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand, citing SPVM numbers indicating 238 reported hate crimes and incidents targeting Jewish communities since Oct.7, 2023. The Dec. 18 Beth Tikvah synagogue firebombing is the latest in a “growing list of violent incidents against Jews and Jewish institutions in Montreal.”
The SPVM says there have been 42 arrests in connection with anti-Israel demonstrations and antisemitic incidents in the city since October 2023, but refused to divulge any information about the cases, many of which, The CJN has learned, have not yet been turned over to Quebec prosecutors.
There have been few arrests or charges in Montreal in contrast to elsewhere in Canada, says Rotrand, who concurs with Côte Saint-Luc’s Brownstein, who recently charged that the tone is set by Montreal’s mayor, who has regularly expressed concerns that the free speech rights of protesters at hateful rallies targeting Israel need to be prioritized.
The Plante administration has been under a barrage of criticism over the last year for everything from anti-racism commissioner Bochra Manaï attending the rally where Adil Charkaoui called for God to slay all Zionists, to the administration’s condemnations of Islamophobia in the same breath as every statement on antisemitism, and proclamations of Montreal as a “city of peace.”
The letter comes as the SPVM releases a collection of photos three weeks following the destructive anti-NATO riots in Montreal, seeking the public’s help identifying suspects. That suggests a sluggish response, say critics, and a product of the SPVM strategy arresting perpetrators after incidents to avoid intensifying situations, but also minimizing any immediate deterrence.
Last week, Brownstein posted a message to Plante, offering as example how south shore Longueuil police and Sûreté du Québec officers acted in swift and muscular fashion without incident to clear protesters in their respective jurisdictions. “We are at an inflection point in the history of the city of Montreal,” he said. “The world is watching the streets of Montreal and is horrified by what they see.”
Rotrand laid some blame with Plante’s close colleagues, particularly Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough mayor Gracia Katahwa, who slammed an action plan to combat antisemitism that was penned by one MP, two MNAs and several municipal politicians in west-end Montreal.
Plante’s point-person on fighting racism objected to a recommendation to allow off-duty, armed police officers, or specially trained security guards who carry weapons as when transporting cash for private business, to be hired to secure Jewish schools and institutions targeted by hate crimes and violence. She derided the report as “American-style gun-centred solutions.” Rotrand also cited Manaï’s behaviour and city councillor Alex Norris’s public support for the boycott, diverstment and sanctions movement.
At agglo council Dec. 19, Smith demanded action as residents, including many seniors, are subjected to weekly demonstrations and often blocked from entering or leaving their homes for hours on end, and businesses cannot be accessed or are forced to close early. “We need to see clear and easy access to homes and businesses,” she said, asking Plante to meet with police “to make sure all the bylaws of the City of Westmount are respected.”
The response came from Norris, who said he understand that some of the 400 demonstrations “can disturb and create inconveniences, but above all the right to demonstrate is enshrined in the constitution and charters of Canada and Quebec—and the mission of the SPVM, our mission, is to ensure the security of everybody. That’s residents, businesses, demonstrators, everybody, and we will respect the independence and professionalism of the SPVM.”
Smith was unimpressed. “I understand all that; everybody understands that. But noise, activities—sometimes it’s after midnight and for these people, it has been 15 months like this.” Businesses that survived COVID, she said, must now close a few times a week. “We have bylaws for this. It’s simple.”
Plante agreed her concerns were valid. “Bylaws must be respected, and we’ve had this conversation,” she said, pledging to follow up. “We have to go further and look at among other things, night disturbances and people feeling safe. That’s absolutely essential.”
For his part, Brownstein explained to agglo council that Criminal Code prohibitions already exist against unlawful assemblies and mask-wearing during such events. “Are police aware?” he asked Plante, adding they may need reminding or expert training. Norris said the city will look at Brownstein’s recommendations, “but with respect of the autonomy and professionalism of the police to make sure there is no interference in operational affairs.” Brownstein lauded police in his city for the work they do but said it’s time for Montreal to adopt “zero tolerance…. It’s enough.” He said a stronger tone is required, as are more arrests.
Plante called it “odd for you to tell us to interfere and tell the police what to do. I understand the feelings many people have but we must not interfere with forces of law and order because it creates problems for our democracy…. You have the right to not like my answer…. Since the beginning of the terrorist attacks by Hamas and afterwards, what’s happened in Palestine and with 400 demonstrations, we know it’s difficult for the Jewish community, absolutely, and we denounce it every single time.”
She said she will look at recommendations. “I understand the insecurity, but we’re not going to tell police what to do. Don’t ask me to tell the police what to do. I will always refuse.”
While Plante is not seeking a third term, her party, Projet Montréal, will contest the 2025 election, and Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa has already declared her interest in a city mayoralty run. In an email last week, Rotrand told supporters that, while his group rarely takes overt political positions, “We are calling for the defeat of Projet Montréal. Its total lack of empathy for the Jewish community should be one of the prime reasons for its defeat.”
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week

Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution

German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.