Joly, Blair condemn anti-NATO protest in Montreal that saw fires, smashed windows

Federal cabinet ministers condemned an anti-NATO protest in Montreal that turned violent on Friday, saying "hatred and antisemitism" were on display, but protesters deny the claim, saying they demonstrated against the "complicity" of NATO member countries in a war that has killed thousands of Palestinians.

Police said they arrested three people following a demonstration that began late afternoon Friday, which included two car fires and left some businesses with smashed windows.

They said they arrested a 22-year-old woman for obstructing police work and assaulting a police officer, as well as two men, 22 and 28, both for obstructing police work. All three were released and will appear in court at a later date.

Montreal police said that during the march, smoke bombs were deployed, metal barriers were thrown into the street and windows of businesses and at the convention centre were smashed.

The protest was organized by the groups Divest for Palestine and the Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles.

Benoît Allard, a member of Divest for Palestine, said he and several other protesters were injured by police and at least four protesters had to go to hospital.

He said the purpose of the protest was to demonstrate against what he called NATO's "complicity with Israel's military while it's conducting its genocide in Gaza, ... war crimes in Lebanon, Syria" and "it's enforcing illegal occupation of Palestinian territories."

Speaking to reporters at the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Defence Minister Bill Blair said the actions of the protesters were unacceptable.

“What we saw was not peaceful protest. What we saw was actually violence, hate and antisemitism, and this has no place on our streets,” Joly said.

“Of course, we believe in the freedom of speech, we believe in the freedom to demonstrate, but where we draw the line is when there's violence.”

Blair added the demonstration “was nothing like lawful, peaceful protests.” Instead, he called the demonstrations an act of “anarchy" by a "mob."

“It was engagement in violence and hatred on display in the City of Montreal,” Blair said.

"Those behaviours are unacceptable and we can condemn them, and in particular the hatred and antisemitism that was on display, in the strongest possible terms."

However, Allard rejected accusations of antisemitism. He said the protests were against the actions of the state of Israel and not Jewish people and added that earlier this week the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Thursday, the court said in a news release that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu committed "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."

Delegates from NATO member states and partner countries are in Montreal this weekend to discuss issues including support for Ukraine, climate change and the future of the alliance.

Police spokesperson Manuel Couture said the demonstrators were completely dispersed at around 7 p.m.

More anti-NATO protests are planned for Saturday and Sunday in Montreal. Saturday's event is organized by Mouvement Québécois pour la paix. On its website, the group says it fights for peace and against imperialism, and says that NATO has contributed to global conflicts.

— With files from Sammy Hudes in Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024.