"[Montreal4Palestine has spend years raising awareness in Montreal, consistently working to] unite Montrealers of all religious backgrounds."

"[We have] stood firmly against all forms of hate, including antisemitism [and uphold] values of human dignity, freedom of expression and solidarity among communities."

"[We are] deeply concerned by efforts to falsely characterize a side-profile image of an effigy as depicting a 'man in a kippah.'"

"[The effigies displayed] were directed specifically at political figures [and] at no point were [they] intended to represent Judaism, Jewish people, or any religious, ethnic, or identifiable community."

Montreal4Palestine

Montreal4Palestine posted this image to Instagram on Wednesday in response to the public outcry, clarifying that the three figures hanging in effigy at a rally on Saturday in Montreal were directed specifically at political figures. (mtl4pal/Instagram)

 

"The incitement to violence, hate symbols, and displays of intimidation that we see in our streets are unacceptable."

"Images of hangings or effigies have no place in Montreal, nor anywhere else."

"Montreal must remain a city of dialogue, respect, and living together, where everyone can feel safe and treated with dignity."

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrara 

 

"This is not a debate about the Middle East."

"Hanging effigies of Jews in the streets of Montreal evokes some of the darkest antisemitic imagery in history and is completely unacceptable."

"This is not 'peaceful activism.' It is the promotion of hatred and the incitement of violence that fuels the radicalization of our social climate."

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs 

A still from the footage that appears to show the effigy of a Jewish figure being hung (Photo: X)

 

The ongoing spectacles of Palestinian 'protests' alongside their far-left-wing supporters that denigrate the state of Israel as a genocidal entity with the usual chants of 'globalize the Intifada', 'Final Solution' and 'From the river to the sea!' do not, and cannot be construed as free speech, when a simple analysis of these chants reveal their true meaning; the 'final solution' hearking back to the Holocaust and the infamous Nazi final solution to the Jewish 'problem'; the bookending chants' meaning the destruction of Israel, the Jewish homeland. 

 

The usual commentary by government officials, decrying the obvious antisemitic and violent nature of such protests amount to public dressing and no more by authority figures who deny that antisemitism reflects the values of society, but their declarations of denials are pablum and nothing more. Disrupting the social order to the extent that has become so depressingly commonplace since the Palestinian terrorist attacks on southern Israel of 7 October 2023, with no penalties attached for those who slander, threaten, and aggressively harass Jews within their communities represents a blot of shame for both elected officials and Canadian police services for their inattention and inaction.

 

No segment of society representing an ethnic, cultural, religious group should ever be forced by government unwillingness to apply the law as it should be done, to be constantly victimized with no consequences resulting from their violently verbal attackers. The government leaders that prefer to turn a blind eye, blinkered by their own political animus against a legitimate democratic state constantly under attack by destructive and violent neighbours, prefer to do nothing rather than alienate a voting block of Muslim Canadians that have become through immigration, migrant and refugee intake, far larger than that of the Jewish-Canadian demographic with its much longer historical roots in Canada. 

 

Mock hangings at a pro-Palestinian event in Montreal on Sunday, May 24, 2026 appear to show effigies depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. (Montreal4Palestine / Instagram)

 

Finally, the Montreal Police Service has announced an investigation following yet another anti-Israel march that saw the hanging of effigy figures on the May 24 weekend. Effigies purporting to depict U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir amused the crowd no end. But, claimed the protest organizers, there was nothing antisemitic about the spectacle, nothing at all. Islamists who have succeeded in infiltrating Canada know how to play the game of using Western social justice values to their advantage, mouthing denials and claiming adherence to human rights.

 

Montreal police emailed their intention to investigate these most recent examples of Montreal4Palestine honouring Canadian values. The matter, they declared, was being investigated by their hate-crimes unit, with further details to be released at a later date. "As city councillor, I reached out to the local commander and asked for the latest information on the protest. I had received a lot of complaints from people in my district", explained Leslie Roberts, a Montreal councillor whose district the protest rally took place in.  

"In my view, depiction of violence against anyone crosses the line. I contacted the police to find out if what they were doing was within the Charter of Rights [and Freedoms] or not."

"Depiction of a Jewish man hanging with a kippah, depiction of anyone hanging, is crossing the line, in my opinion."

Montreal City Councillor Leslie Roberts   

"Hanging effigies, burning effigies, that sort of thing, is a very common form of political protest. The courts have said over and over again that political speech is, in a sense, the highest form of free speech, because it engages with our understanding of self-expression, it engages with the broader public sphere", stated Pearl Eliadis, a lawyer and McGill associate professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy. The exception under Canadian law, is when violence is used to foment hatred. And if this display fails to fall into that category, then what does?!!

 

The animus and hostility toward Jews is fully expressed by Montreal4Palestine and other like groups practising their very special brand of antisemitism in Canada. While the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms protect free expression, they do not extend that freedom to the expression of viral hatred of the depth and degree demonstrated at this May 24 rally featuring a hanging-in-effigy of world leaders and by obvious extension Jews in general, which the kippah-clad effigy represented.