"The consequences of this conflict are already being felt here."

"In 2025, Jewish people were the target of approximately 72 percent of police-reported hate crimes in Canada motivated by religion."

"Jewish schools in Montreal have been shot at, Jewish people have been assaulted, synagogues have been attacked, and antisemitism has manifested itself in academic and professional settings through intimidation, threats and exclusion."

Open letter to Montreal city council

 

"[It] is appalling to see the official opposition at city council, for the second time in a few months, try to preserve political capital by calling on Montreal to cut ties with Israel."

"The motion is perplexing as it offers no solutions and fails to advance any debate."

"Worse, it adds fuel to the fire and risks jeopardizing the safety of the Jewish community. And thousands of Montrealers spoke out against this motion in June."

Op-ed, Montreal Gazette 

The motion, proposed by Projet Montréal in June, has been pushed back to the city council meeting on August 24. Photo Samuel Kayll

 

On June 4, the Montreal municipal council's opposition Projet Montreal called on the city to suspend institutional ties with the government of Israel, its institutions and municipalities. That would result in Israeli state representatives not being invited to official city hall events "until Israel returns to its internationally recognized borders, ceases its violations of the rights of Palestinian people and ends its violations of international law", according to the motion. The motion calls on the city to "recognize and denounce the apartheid regime in Palestine and the genocide being perpetrated there", urging the city to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians along with other civilian victims in Southwest Asia and North Africa.

This is a motion devoid of logic and purpose. The internationally recognized borders have as yet not been formally fully identified. This lopsided, one-sided motion mentions nothing of Israel's forced constant vigilance against Palestinian terrorism targeting Israeli citizens in deadly attacks. Palestinian rights to have its leaders negotiate with Israeli leaders to conditions appealing to both sides that would result in the formal recognition of a Palestinian state in exchange for a formal Palestinian recognition of the Israeli state have never been violated. Each attempt by Israel to persuade Palestinian leaders to accept Israel's sovereignty has failed.

As for the motion's confusion in denouncing 'the apartheid regime in Palestine' when it mean its target to be Israel, it was a felicitous reality reached by accident, for it is the Palestinian Territories that in effect and in real time are true apartheid regimes; no Jew would ever be able to live freely among Palestinians who have been taught to loathe their presence and react with deadly violence. Whereas in Israel, there are two million Palestinian Arabs who have Israeli citizenship, are able to vote, have representatives in the Knesset, are appointed judges, and work alongside Israeli Jews in academia, medical institutions and other key civil areas. 

 

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrations at Quebec universities  universityaffairs.ca

 

"I am not going to debate a war on the other side of the world, and that is exactly the point. A municipal government has no jurisdiction over foreign policy. Cities do not end wars."

"This city has been a safe haven for my family and so many others, and it must remain one for everyone."

Shopify president Harley Finkelstein

 

"[B'nai Brith] continues to advocate against the so-called anti-Apartheid motion being proposed by Projet Montreal."

"The motion is a one-sided invective that unduly targets Israel. It is unacceptable for this unreasonable and irresponsible motion to be passed while Canada is experiencing a national crisis of antisemitism."

Paola Samuel, B'nai Brith spokesperson  

One of Montreal's most prominent and successful entrepreneurs, Harley Finkelstein, deplores the motion, writing that he is "speaking up because this motion is dangerous for Montreal, and my reason has nothing to do with which side of that w are you are on". His family, he recounts arrived in Montreal as refugees in 1956. The city, he wrote, gave them "safety dignity and the chance to build. That promise has drawn generations of immigrants here from every corner of the world".

 

Condemnation of the motion before Montreal council took the form of an open letter when Montreal's legal and medical communities stated that the motion "goes far beyond an expression of solidarity with Palestinian civilians. It asks Montreal ... to declare that a 'genocide' is underway',", while urging the city to suspend ties with the Israeli government. Lawyers point to the legality of the proposed measure falling within the powers conferred on the city by the provincial legislature; city councils do not determine international law.

 

To parallel the advocacy efforts, an opinion piece was published in the Montreal Gazette by the senior vice-president (Quebec) at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Eta Yudin, along with Yair Szlak, president and CEO at Federation CJA. Pointing out the absurdity of the motion's thesis, while its slanderous accusations pose a real risk to the security of the Montreal Jewish community which has received far more of its share of aggravated harassment and threats than rational reality can account for.  

"Montreal can acknowledge the suffering of Palestinians and Israeli civilians, call for respect for international law, and recognize Hamas's responsibility, and the realities Israel has faced since October 7."

"It does not need to enshrine legally contested allegations in a resolution or lay the groundwork for an institutional, economic or cultural boycott that exceeds its powers and threatens rights protected by our Charter."

Open letter to Montreal city council 

Council meets at city hall in Montreal on June 15. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

  

"Since the 2023 attack on Israel, hatred and violence against the Quebec Jewish community have skyrocketed. Synagogues and schools were targeted, and citizens were insulted and dehumanized. The latest hate crime statistics from the Montreal police and across the country are damning. Jews, representing less than one per cent of the population, are the No. 1 targets of hate."

"Meanwhile, a radical fringe element is taking advantage of political laxity to impose an agenda contrary to Quebec’s shared values. Given the ties forged during the last municipal election campaign, some have seemingly succeeded in advancing an agenda that rejects living together. By giving in to these pressures, Projet Montréal and its elected officials are only undermining cohesion among our communities."

"As the Aug. 24 city council meeting approaches, Projet Montréal’s reintroduction of its divisive and incendiary anti-Israel motion, which is written in a haphazard, unnuanced and biased manner, once again appears more like a political manoeuvre than a genuine desire to serve Montrealers."

Eta Yudin and Yair Szlak, Special to Montreal Gazette 

Delusions of Existential Grandeur

"It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity."

"The whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasize that America has attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in violation of all regulations and is hated around the world."

"They cannot find even a single clause in this agreement that indicates capitulation. All the commitments concern the other side."

"Today, we believe that all our commanders and armed forces are fully prepared to defend the country with all their might and with their lives in their hands. They also believe that the government is wholeheartedly seeking to serve the people." 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian waves during a campaign event in Tehran, Iran. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

 

"Sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue."

"China calls on all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian  

China's spokesman sounds as though wisdom and world peace is always uppermost in the minds of Beijing's Communist Party elites. This is the country, of course, that shot down pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square, who wanted the end to one-party dictatorship of China. Any Chinese citizen who dares to publicly commemorate the event and mourn the death of thousands of protesters, under Chinese law is held guilty of "incitement to subversion" and faces a long prison sentence. In China, furthermore, Muslims such as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang face cultural obliteration, but as long as Islam is kept out of China, Beijing is front and centre in support of an Islamist regime even more brutal than its own. 

 

The U.S. war in Iran against the Islamic Republic that began in February with U.S. and Israeli coordinated aerial bombardments of the country, is at a standstill. The issue of the IRGC closing the Strait of Hormuz to normal marine traffic moving oil, LNG, fertilizers and other products valued by the global community threw a spanner into President Trump's plans to remove the Iranian regime to ensure that no further efforts would be made in pursuit of nuclear and long-range missile development to threaten the world community, as well as rescue Iranians from the persecution of the Ayatollahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps they have suffered under since 1979.

 

Oil residue lines the shore near fishing boats on Qeshm Island, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, amid ongoing wartime attacks on vessels and infrastructure in and around the Strait of Hormuz, though the spill’s source has not been independently determined.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

 

The unpopularity of the war in the United States resulted in political vulnerability for the American president, with the understanding that if he ordered a ground invasion to complement and support the air and sea bombardments, he would face certain political repercussions in the future, and the Republican Party would be in a poor position with upcoming Congressional elections through voter resentment of having their country dragged into another 'forever' war in the Middle East. Issuing threats rather than taking firm action has resulted in a half-completed war, leaving the Iranian regime exultant that its ploy to provoke its neighbours through strikes that would leave them less enamoured of hosting U.S. military sites created a rift that in the end profited Iran's regime.

 

The hyperbole emanating from the Iranian government which has seen its geography relentlessly bombed, its political and theocratic leaders targeted and eliminated along with its military and scientific elite, its weapons stocks destroyed, its airfields and naval assets destroyed, creates an aura for interior consumption of a valiant nation courageously confronting an alien power set on its destruction. While countering the American offensive, the regime was also engaged in destroying its citizens' hopes of rescue from its theistic Islamist rule, through arrests, torture and the death penalty for those who had been detained among the hundreds of thousands who attended mass protests throughout the country in December. 

 

Now the Iranian president acts out a role of peacemaker, that his country is prepared to accept certain conditions demanded by U.S. negotiators in Tehran's projected belief that its position is in a better place  than that of its nemesis, Washington. The on-hold talks aside, Tehran is still blocking access to passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as its victory centrepiece. As though it is of no concern that Washington has instituted a naval counter-blockade of Iran.

 

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with technology leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

 

The prospect of signing an agreement which Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei purportedly approved, despite 'differing views', toward the goal of ending the war, will allow the Iranian regime to proclaim victory. Even as Iran's parliamentary hard-line lawmakers criticize the government, accusing it of concessions to placate the US. including reopening of the strategic Strait, even as the U.S. Navy organizes and protects convoys of tankers through the Strait's southern sector, such an event would allow the regime to retain its power and exult over its having 'won the war'. 

 

Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the US. of "economic terrorism" and "crimes against humanity", in a sanctimonious reversal of the regime's modus operandi. "The perpetrators and instigators of these sanctions are deserving of trial and punishment for committing such heinous crimes", they stated, following U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's declaration that Washington would "collapse" the Iranian regime with an economics sanctions campaign.

 

U.S. politics, with the Republicans taking the  temperature of the U.S. public over the prolonged Middle East conflict has led the Trump administration to abandon its half-successful aerial bombardments and threatening naval presence in favour of an economic embargo. The plan, which Bessent elaborated on to a degree is to intensify economic sanctions, favouring that route over a continuation of heavy military operations.

 

Iranian Foreign Minister had his own interpretation of these events: "The so-called 'Economic D-Day' is a diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt and surging interests costs", spat Abbas Araghchi in an X post. 

An Iranian missile is displayed during a rally marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Tehran, Iran. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

 

"Canadians need to know that eight fellow citizens were among those murdered on October 7."

"Today [International Day of Remembrance/Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism] is a day to remember those we lost, to honour their lives and to make sure their stories are never forgotten." 

"Terrorism doesn't end when an attack is over."

"It leaves families forever changed and ripples through entire communities long after the headlines have disappeared."

Jacqui Rivers Vital, daughter Adi killed October 7 

 

"We're seeing a convergence of terrorism, criminal actors here in Canada, a rise of hate-motivated attacks, foreign entities contracting out shootings and potentially arson attacks as well."

"It's not only individuals who are targeted in acts of terror, it's our way of life as Canadians that's under threat."

"[This campaign is meant to galvanize Canadians and press Ottawa to ensure terrorists and their proxies] find no safe haven here in Canada."

"These are not just protests, [pro-Hamas street protests targeting Israel and Canadian Jews] this is open-air radicalization, and we need to take it very seriously."

"Canadians have been targeted all around the world by terror and their memories demand action."

Noah Shack, chief executive, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs 

Federation CJA & CIJA organized a rally in Montreal. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

 

Jacqui River Vital's daughter Adi was among the 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023. Her daughter was trying to protect her two children when she was killed. Mrs. Vital has dedicated her activities in reminding the world of that fateful day, of the many victims whose lives were taken, among them Canadian citizens, in the hope that terrorism will be recognized wherever it occurs and ordinary people and their governments feel responsible in rooting its covert presence out.

 

In Canada, as in Europe and the United States, terrorist operatives infiltrate society and government with their messages of hateful slander against the state of Israel in a double-pronged war to defame, delegitimize and isolate the Jewish state, their propaganda presenting violently deadly terrorist acts as acts of 'resistance' against an 'occupation' by a state left with little option but to use its military to protect its citizens against never-ending lethal attacks by a neighbour population whose leaders promote and incite that violence.

 

Outside the United Nations, individuals and UN staff gather to express their solidarity on the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism

 

The United Nations has declared August 21 to be the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. At the United Nations on Friday, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Israeli mother of murdered Gaza hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, represented Middle Eastern victims of terrorism. The first Israeli representative chosen to deliver her message, her testimony (through video) was shown alongside those of other terror victims from around the world. 

 

In Canada, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Canadian Families of Victims of October 7, have appealed to the federal government to add Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia aligned with Iran, as well as Palestine Action Canada and Masar Badil, a spokesman for terror-listed Samidoun, to be added to the federal government's list of terrorist entities. Public Safety Canada last updated its list in July. In August, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote to Public Safety Canada Minister Gary Anandasangaree asking that he recommend listing Kata'ib Hezbollah. "Yet it is still not listed as a terrorist entity in Canada", noted Mr. Poilievre.

 

According to U.S. prosecutors, a member of Kata'ib Hezbollah informed an undercover officer that his group was behind shootings at a Toronto synagogue and at the front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto. Once a group has been listed a protocol goes into effect whereby banks are obligated by law to freeze the group's money; to knowingly handle its property, fund it, recruit for a listed group or travel to join it becomes a federal crime.

 

The listing campaign undertaken by the two groups, CIJA and Canadian Families of Victims cites a Global News report naming Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi who was arrested in May for directing attacks in Europe, attesting that the group was behind the Toronto shootings. Global News cited a federal threat assessment that a group called Harakat Ashab al Yamin al Islamiyya claimed responsibility for attacks in Europe, a London synagogue arson among them. The group, say U.S. prosecutors, is a front for Kata'ib Hezbollah.

 

As for Palestine Action Canada, it has targeted strategic industries in the United Kingdom and Canada. Masar Badil, acting on behalf of Samidoun, listed in October 2024 as a terrorist entity, is the third the campaign names for listing. Ottawa has been asked to criminalize willful promotion of terrorism, and that membership in a listed entity be an offence. That more resources for police and intelligence agencies be provided, along with enforcement of existing listings.

 

Among them the deportation of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials living freely in Canada, when the IRGC was listed by Canada as a terrorist entity in 2024. The Canadian Integrated Threat Assessment Centre has warned that a violent extremist attack on the Jewish community in Canada remained a "realistic possibility" in the near future, according to a report noted by The Globe and Mail. A second assessment noted a realistic possibility that Iran directed or enabled criminal violence in Canada.   

Kata’ib Hezbollah is an Iran-backed extremist militia closely tied to the IRGC. It has been listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States since 2009 under President Obama and receives training, weapons, financing, intelligence and logistical support from the Iranian regime.

Yet it is still not listed as a terrorist entity in Canada.

Listing Kata’ib Hezbollah would make it illegal to knowingly deal in its property or finances, allow authorities to restrain or seize its assets and strengthen Canada’s ability to prevent its members from entering or remaining in the country.

There is no justification for delay.

The Liberals have failed to enforce Canada’s terrorist laws with the urgency and strength Canadians expect. Parliament did not list terrorist entities merely to put their names on a government website. Canadians expect their laws to be enforced to the fullest extent: terrorist assets frozen and seized, financing networks dismantled, and operatives stopped at the border or removed from the country. Yet Canadians have seen little evidence of serious enforcement against the IRGC and other listed terrorist groups threatening our people, our communities and our national interests. A terrorist listing is only as strong as the action that follows it.

Jewish Canadians have watched their synagogues, schools and businesses targeted by shootings, vandalism, firebombings and threats. Iranian Canadians who escaped the brutality of the Islamic Republic have faced surveillance, harassment and intimidation from the same regime on Canadian soil.

Conservative Party of Canada 

Poilievre calls on Canada to designate Kata’ib Hezbollah as terror group. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, May 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby