MONTREAL — The Montreal footwear store that is the new target of an anti-Israel boycott campaign is appealing to Premier Jean Charest for his intervention.

Solemates Inc., the Toronto area-based owner of Chaussures Naot at 4257 St. Denis St., has written to the premier denouncing the demonstrations that have been taking place outside the store on Saturdays since Feb. 12.

“This activity can only be described as a form of economic terrorism, specifically organized by a group of individuals who have a fundamentally anti-Israel agenda,” wrote Solemates vice-president Max Lissoos in a letter copied to Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay.

“In recent weeks we have been confronted with a group of aggressive and abusive activists… interfering with shoppers, our staff and passersby on the street, demanding that our store should be boycotted as we sell products produced in Israel.”

For more than 20 years, Solemates has been the exclusive Canadian importer and distributor for Naot, a shoe manufacturer which was founded in 1942 and is still based at Kibbutz Neot Mordechai in the Upper Galilee.

The St. Denis store mainly sells merchandise from Israel, but also from India, Romania, Portugal and Canada, he said.

In an interview, Lissoos said he’s relying on reports from the store’s manager and had not yet been present during one of the demonstrations himself.

This is the first time in Canada that Naot has been the focus of the worldwide boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, Lissoos said. Solemates has been operating the St. Denis store and another on Monkland Avenue in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce for several years. It also has retail outlets in Toronto and Calgary, and Naot footwear is sold to many independent stores across Canada, he said.

Lissoos said he doesn’t understand why no police action has been taken that would put an end to the demonstrations. He contends they are disturbing the peace, disrupting commercial activity, and harassing staff and customers.

If the law does not allow the protests to be stopped, Lissoos thinks it should be changed.

Closing the Quebec operations would not be ruled out if “this nonsense” doesn’t stop, he added. The two Montreal Naot stores employ 10 people.

The group Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) began holding demonstrations on Saturday afternoons in front of Boutique Le Marcheur on Oct. 2. Last month, the handful of protesters began moving between Le Marcheur and Naot, across the street.

Anti-boycott activist Sharon Freedman said that they now spend a half-hour at Le Marcheur, which stocks only a small amount of Israeli footwear, and 1-1/2 hours at Naot.

While the demonstrators number only about a half-dozen, their tone has changed, she said. Once peaceful, they now blow horns and shout, she said. On March 5, a police officer intervened to order them to lower the noise, Freedman said.

“They aren’t stopping people from going in the store, but the atmosphere is intimidating,” she said.

A motion, supported by the Liberals and the two other major parties, was presented to the National Assembly Feb. 9 condemning the long-running protests against Le Marcheur, owned by the Archambault family, and affirming the Quebec-Israel trade agreement. It was not debated because Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir refused to give his assent.

A similar motion was adopted March 22 by Montreal city council in a majority vote.

Lissoos wants some practical action that would end the demonstrations immediately, because he believes their “agenda is anarchistic and anti-free enterprise.” He doesn’t believe any other jurisdiction in North America would have allowed them to continue this long.

He pointed out that Naot is contributing to the economy of the Palestinians, as well as Israel. As he wrote to Charest: “The irony of the situation is that they are demonstrating against an Israeli factory which employs and has a significant collaboration with Palestinian families, who have factories in [east] Jerusalem and Hebron [in the West Bank] stitching the uppers of Naot footwear. These families have been working with Naot for 20 years and are dependent for their livelihood on Naot.”

Lissoos further mentioned to The CJN that while the footwear is assembled in Israel, the leather is bought in Italy and the inserts are from Germany and Austria.

He said it’s too early to tell if the protests are affecting Naot’s sales in Montreal.

Lissoos said he would also be appealing to Montreal-area MP Irwin Cotler to see what he can do. Cotler is among a number of federal and provincial politicians who have visited Le Marcheur to show their support.

Lissoos is planning to post a sign in the St. Denis store explaining his company’s side of the story, and perhaps launch a petition.

However, he does not think the pro-Israel demonstrations that have taken place outside Le Marcheur and Naot are helpful because of the potential for conflict between opponents and the impact they are having on the neighbourhood’s tranquility.