A demonstration organized by the Jewish Defence League (JDL) during the World Social Forum (WSF) in Montreal was met by pro-Palestinian counter-protesters Aug. 10 on St. Laurent Boulevard and Ontario Street.
For close to 1-1/2 hours the two sides traded recriminations and invective without serious incident, although JDL director Meir Weinstein said he was hit in the face “by a guy who ran off.”
The two sides were kept apart by a police line, and at least two members of the force’s mediation team mingled in the crowd.
Neither camp mustered many participants. There were about 25 people standing with the JDL, most having come from Toronto. Their opponents numbered about 60 at the peak.
The JDL protest was held near the Cégep du Vieux Montréal on Ontario Street, where a WSF session led by Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian organization, was to be held in conjunction with groups opposing “Israeli apartheid.”
Weinstein said the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel is anti-Semitic, as is “anyone who stands against the Jewish state,” and Jews must confront that.
READ: MONTREAL MAYOR CONDEMNS BDS ADVOCACY AT SOCIAL SUMMIT
Shlomo Roth of Toronto said the counter-protest was joined by a group of leftist Jews, like himself, participating in the WSF, who oppose what they see as the JDL’s extremism. David Zinman, another leftist Jew from Montreal, carried a sign reading: “JDL=Fascist Scum.”
They were joined by others, whose opinions they do not necessarily share, or were necessarily associated with the WSF.
Roth did his best to contain any utterances that could be construed as anti-Semitic, including one from a man who yelled, “Did your rabbi tell you to rape Palestinian women?”
Roth couldn’t contain Dan Freeman-Maloy who released an angry expletive-laden diatribe against Israel’s “massacres” of Palestinians.
A few arrived on the scene with a large banner reading “Boycottons Apartheid Israelien.”
Both sides accused the other of killing Palestinian or Jewish civilians.
A sign in the JDL camp asked, “Where in the world are queers executed?” answering Iran, Saudi Arabia and Gaza, but not Israel, which elicited accusations of homophobia from the other side.
Jaggi Singh, a veteran anti-globalization activist, charged, “You’ve just brought attention to BDS, and that suits us fine.”
In the sweltering heat, the demonstrators started to wilt and the trading of insults devolved into something close to farce.
The JDL played recordings of the pop songs We are the Champions and later, Why Can’t We be Friends.
The two camps had a common target for criticism: the Jewish establishment.
Scott Weinstein, of the pro-Palestinian Independent Jewish Voices Canada, a WSF participant, insisted it was Jewish participants who first alerted WSF organizers to the unacceptability of an anti-Semitic cartoon on its website, not the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
He objected to CIJA’s “maligning” of those in the Palestinian solidarity movement, instead of accepting its invitation to engage in a discussion of the issues.
Ber Lazarus, who stood with JDL, said the point of the demonstration was not that it would change anything.
“We are taking a stand for free speech, and against being told by the organized [Jewish] community what they think is best. Their working behind the scenes only contributes to the idea that Jews control everything.”
Lazarus, 61, said he was also doing it to show young Jewish people, including his adult daughter, about the importance of not being apathetic in the face of hate.
The demonstration ended when the JDL side called a halt, and some drove off in a minivan.