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Toronto (March 5, 2024) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is outraged by last night’s anti-Israel demonstration outside a Jewish community centre in Montreal that saw demonstrators aggressively harass Jewish community members and obstruct movement into and out of the building.

The demonstration took place outside the Federation CJA building, where an event was taking place. Federation CJA said in a statement that protesters “were allowed unchallenged access to all entrances and exits of the building” and Jewish community members “could not access an event and others were prevented from leaving for hours.”

Demonstrators were heard chanting “shame on you,” “settlers, settlers go back home, Palestine is our home,” “Palestine is ours alone” and “long live the Intifada.” One woman was heard shouting that demonstrators “on the other side successfully shut down their entrance… each one of them on the inside is leaving like rats.”

“Once again, anti-Israel demonstrators have taken the route of antisemitic intimidation and harassment in their activism,” said FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt. “Targeting members of the Jewish community, especially in such a violent and aggressive manner, and obstructing their ability to access and exit a community centre, is appalling and utterly unacceptable. The failure of Montreal police to protect the Jewish community in this case is deeply unsettling and must never happen again.”

This incident is just the latest in a series of demonstrations targeting the Jewish community, including a protest that took place outside a Thornhill, Ont. synagogue on Sunday.

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