Montreal Jewish Community's 'Apartheid/Genocide/Israel Challenge

"For the City of Montreal to weigh into this conflict would be inappropriate and exacerbate tensions between communities."

"It is not in the city's purview to dictate foreign policy for its residents, as our federal leaders are elected to do that, and no other elected officials are charged with that mandate."

"[Projet Montreal is guilty of] explosive falsehoods [in labelling Israel an] apartheid [regime and accusing its government of] genocide. [Its motion contains] calculated lies and extreme characterizations." 

B'nai Brith Canada 

 

"This is an issue for all Montrealers."

"It's inappropriate for [the City of Montreal] to weigh in on an issue that has nothing to do with everyday Montrealers ... City councillors are elected to run the city, rather than be distracted by things that are lies and dishonest and not factually correct."

"Every single Montrealer should be concerned about this." 

"Jews are facing extreme hostility based on fallacies about apartheid and genocide in a country on the other side of the world."

"Just bringing [the motion up increases the concern for our safety." 

B'nai Brith Canada regional director for Quebec, Paola Samuel 

 

"This is an important message that we are putting in the motion: That we're against antisemitsm, that we're against Islamophobia -- any kind of discrimination and racism."

Projet Montreal Leader Ericka Alneus  

B’nai Brith Canada has written an open letter in response to a Projet Montreal motion due to be tabled on Aug. 24. Photo by Evan Buhler /Montreal Gazette

 

 

A motion by opposition party Projet Montreal to cut institutional ties with the State of Israel, has been placed before Montreal's city council. Introduced on June 4th, the motion calls on city council to "recognize and denounce the apartheid regime in Palestine and the genocide being perpetrated there, and affirm solidarity with Palestinians and other civilian victims of hostilities in the Middle East."

 

 

 

Suspending institutional ties with Israel would be carried out by not inviting state representatives to official events held at city hall "until Israel returns to its internationally recognized borders, ceases its violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, and ends its violations of international law." Set to be presented on June 15 originally, the motion was pushed to August 24, following Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada removing it from the agenda.

 

Mayor Ferrada had proposed an alternative text, the Declaration for Civil Peace, Intercultural Dialogue and Living Together, with the intent of recognizing the plight of all civilians in armed conflicts. Under the council's procedural rules the amendment had not been submitted in advance, and thus carried no force as an act of the city. In response to which B'nai Brith asked the administration to table it properly on August 24, "so that councillors have something to vote for". 

 

The correlation between conflict in the Middle East and resultant increases in antisemitism was highlighted in B'nai Brith's letter. Statistics Canada data indicated that incidents targeting Jewish people peaked at 959 in 2023, the very year of the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel. The 788 incidents  of last year represented 60 percent greater incident occurrences than the 492 reported by police in 2021. 

 

"The community feels vulnerable. You don't feel unsafe every day walking down the street, but you do feel like you have to be careful who you talk to and if you're going to be honest about how you feel", observed B'nai Brith Canada's Quebec regional director Paola Samuel. 

 

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is joined by Projet Montréal city councillor Ericka Alneus, left, and Montreal North borough mayor Christine Black, at City Hall in Montreal Monday, June 15, 2026. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

 

"[Projet Montreal is being] deceitful and inflammatory [in conflating Israel with Apartheid South Africa as part of the motion."

"Canada has rejected the view that Israel's actions constitute apartheid."

"The war in the Middle East is highly polarizing, impacting Jewish Canadians, Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims, Iranians, and others who call this city their home." 

"All have powerful emotions and beliefs about the past three years."

"Montreal must be a place for each and every one of us."

B'nai Brith Canada