A local rabbi is speaking out after he says police asked him to leave the site of a pro-Palestinian protest in downtown Montreal, saying his presence was a provocation.
Adam Scheier, the head of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Westmount, said Sunday he was asked to move away from an area where protesters were marching downtown out of fear that his presence, as a person wearing a kippah, the Jewish skullcap, could provoke violence.
Scheier said he went downtown on Sunday with his wife and three of his children. They purchased a coffee at the Second Cup on Ste-Catherine St. W, at the corner of Stanley St., to support the company’s decision to fire a franchisee who was reported to have made Nazi remarks at a protest on Thursday.
“While we sipped our drinks, an anti-Israel rally — flanked by police protection — marched up the street,” Scheier wrote in a public post on Facebook. “I stood silently and filmed the messages of hate that have become so commonplace in our once-tranquil city. The police approached me and asked me and my family to leave the area. I asked why we were given this directive, as we had not exchanged even one word with a protester.
“The only thing I am guilty of is shopping in downtown Montreal … while wearing a kippah. The policeman explained to me that he was fearful of a ‘fire starting between the two sides.’ Apparently, my presence is deemed a sufficient provocation for removal, while their hateful chants are allowed to continue.”
Speaking to The Gazette in a phone interview, Scheier said he was the only one who was asked to leave, even though dozens of others were standing on the street, many of them using their phones to take videos of the protest. That had led him to believe he was targeted because he looked Jewish.
“It was very distressing, because it was clear the only reason he approached me was because I was wearing a kippah,” he said. “It was really a gut punch. And the only reason I left was because my children were crying and because they were dragging me to go to the car because they were afraid. This was a horrific message.”
Scheier doesn’t blame the specific police officer because he believes this is not an isolated incident.
In fact, earlier in November, police officers told Jewish attendees at an event at his synagogue to leave through the back door because pro-Palestinian protesters were gathered outside. Scheier said on that day an officer also told him not to stand outside the synagogue because there were protesters present. He said it sends a message police are not interested in protecting the Jewish community “because they are protecting the rights of protesters to sow fear in our community,” he said.
Scheier denounced such actions, saying his constitutional rights are being violated to appease protesters, who he said are often spewing hate against Jews.
On X, Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather also denounced Scheier’s ordeal and said he was in touch with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante Sunday night about the situation.
Housefather said in an email he is concerned about how police appear to be handling events of this nature.
“I am deeply concerned that policing in Montreal has turned from enforcing the law and making people feel safe to ensuring that we just don’t escalate situations,” he wrote. “This is sending the wrong message. All people need to feel safe in their communities and telling a prominent rabbi that he and his family should leave a location because his kippah could incite demonstrators is beyond belief. I will be meeting police on Friday and conveying this very clearly as I have previously. I have also raised the incident as well as the riots on Friday with the prime minister’s office and will be talking to him about it directly. While policing is entirely municipal I think he and the provincial premiers all need to send a strong message that what is happening in our communities is unacceptable and that police need to apply the law.”
Plante said Monday she would follow up with Scheier to get his version of events.
“First of all, my heart goes out to the rabbi,” Plante said. “I know him, and he is an important voice in wanting peace in the city. There is no reason why someone is not allowed somewhere because of what they wear or the colour of their skin, or whatever.”
She said Montreal police chief Fady Dagher would meet the rabbi. “We want to make sure that he, and everyone else, feels like we’re all equal as citizens.”
Opposition leader Aref Salem denounced the incident and called on the Plante administration to take the matter seriously.
“It is high time for SPVM director Mr. Dagher to instruct his officers to enforce the law, put an end to criminal acts, threats and insults, and remind everyone that the right to protest does not justify violence,” Salem wrote in a statement. “Asking citizens to leave an area for their own safety is unacceptable. If anyone threatens public safety, it is they who should be removed — not law-abiding citizens.”
Sunday’s incident occurred less than 48 hours after a protest against a NATO summit being held downtown turned violent. Protesters burned two cars, threw paint at riot police and smashed windows at several businesses as well as at the Palais des congrès. Police deployed chemical irritants and conducted crowd-dispersal manoeuvres to regain control. Three protesters were arrested for allegedly assaulting police officers and obstructing police work. Montreal police Constable Véronique Dubuc said more arrests are pending, as police review the footage and reports from Friday night.
Plante blamed Friday’s violence on “professional vandals who were just there to break things,” saying the overall protest was peaceful.
In a statement posted online, a group called the Black Bloc said police used pepper spray before any damage occurred. The protesters justified their actions.
The statement read in part that they “attack” the downtown Montreal area “to oppose symbolically and materially the most odious crimes committed for capitalism. … Our acts are charged with rage born from the horrors we witness and denounce here, but also from our own grief.”
Salem said Plante needs to act decisively to end hate speech on the city’s streets.
“It has been a year since protests, criminal acts and illegal slogans have taken place in Montreal. A police chief and Valérie Plante’s administration tolerate these actions under the guise of the right to protest. These acts and slogans violate the Criminal Code. Nazi salutes have no place in our city. I commend Second Cup’s decision to cut all ties with the franchises involved in these actions.”
B’nai Brith Canada, however, put blame on the Plante administration, saying more needs to be done to root out hate.
“The Jewish community generally views the inactions of Montreal’s leaders as a dereliction of duty,” Henry Topas said. “This has been clear, from the decision not to dismiss Bochra Manaï (commissioner for the Fight against Racism and Systemic Discrimination), to the failure to arrest those committing lawless acts, to the inability to counter the exponential rise in antisemitism in Montreal.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs agreed. In a news conference in Ottawa, Richard Marceau, CIJA’s vice president, external affairs and general counsel, renewed the group’s calls for the government to hold a national summit on antisemitism.
A request for a statement from Montreal police was not returned by the time of publication.