The outbreak of war in the Middle East pushed thousands of pro-Palestinian sympathizers into the streets. A year after the start of the conflict, demonstrators are still agitating almost every day in the metropolis. At the same time, the Center for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence (CPRLV) has seen an increase in reports. Duty attended three demonstrations to understand what pushes these people to campaign with such intensity.
The scene has become almost daily. Samar Alkhdour places fake baby corpses on the ground, installs Palestinian flags around her and begins to occupy the sidewalk in front of the Montreal offices of the Canadian Minister of Immigration. Her child died in Gaza last January and, since then, she has decided to protest “every day of the week” against Ottawa, which refused her family entry into the country.
“It’s my therapy: staying at home and doing nothing is impossible for me,” she explains in an interview. As I have family there, I experience stress every day, every minute. »
These protests may only attract a handful of supporters, but they still forced the closure of Minister Marc Miller’s office. Very active, Samar Alkhdour went to insult French President Emmanuel Macron in person during his last visit to Montreal. Her insistence led to her being arrested by the police on several occasions. But all this doesn’t demotivate her in the least. “I want to educate people who don’t really have the knowledge [de ce qui se passe au Proche-Orient]but also send a message to the government to say that we are not going to stop. »
She is far from being the only one to organize small gatherings in Montreal. The Montreal4Palestine group, which oversees the major demonstrations taking place in the metropolis, has made small in the universities and neighborhoods of the city. Smaller groups organize their own special events, even if it means bringing together only a few dozen people.
Result: rallies occupy the police on a daily basis. The City of Montreal Police Department recorded 353 demonstrations linked to the conflict in the Middle East between October 7, 2023 and October 1.er October 2024. The police had to intervene 37 times and made 106 arrests following excesses.
“The vast majority of events have taken place peacefully so far, and we invite people to continue on this path,” specifies the SPVM communications department. “We also wish to recall that we are present and committed, in complete neutrality, to protecting all populations,” emphasize the police authorities.
Radicalization on the rise
The war in Gaza has pushed part of the younger generation towards radicalism. The number of calls for help received at the CPRLV has increased in the last year, “especially from the educational community,” confirms its scientific director, Louis Audet Gosselin.
“This is an age group that is perhaps a little more receptive to more clear-cut, more radical discourse,” explains the researcher. Other age groups are also affected by this rise in radicalization, he says, except that they are less supervised and therefore less often spotted by concerned people around them.
The spirit of the times is conducive to warming up minds, adds the researcher. On the one hand, the pandemic has aggravated “serious trends, with less in-person contact, less interaction, less learning of contradictory but respectful dialogue”. On the other hand, the outbreaks of violence in Palestine are certainly raising tensions around the world, and, this time, “it is reaching levels that we have not seen since the great conflicts of several years ago.
Watching videos of the horrors emerging from this war motivates a large part of the demonstrators interviewed by Duty. For example, Mohamed Muntasib – who claims to have “more than 100” demonstrations under his belt – justifies his zeal by the videos of destruction that he sees scrolling on the Internet. “It’s easy [de manifester presque tous les jours]. When you see the videos from Gaza, it gives you all the energy. When I see a man, a woman or a child whose arm is cut off, or their head is cut off, it gives me energy. When I see this, I can’t stay at home and do nothing. We must demonstrate. »
Peaceful demonstrations are a form of collective relief which prevents outbreaks of violence, believes Louis Audet Gosselin. “If we let the demonstrations take place, there will be anger, sometimes a little “borderline” comments that will be expressed, but we will avoid certain excesses that are specific to crowd dynamics. »
Growing demands
On October 7, a few thousand people marched for more than five hours to mark the anniversary of the conflict. Zahraa Sayed-Ali, met on the sidelines of this gathering, affirms that a ceasefire is no longer the only demand of the demonstrators. Canada must impose an embargo on arms deliveries to Israel and expel the Jewish state’s ambassadors.
“Even after the ceasefire, our demonstrations are not supposed to stop because it is not only because of the ceasefire that we are demonstrating. We are demonstrating because the Palestinian population lives under occupation and constant oppression. We will continue to fight until our people have the same rights as the Israelis, says the activist. […] We can raise flags on bridges, we can go to events to raise awareness. Any event where we have the opportunity to educate people, we will take it. »
Montreal can expect outbreaks of violence in its streets if the conflict is not resolved, worries Louis Audet Gosselin. “This is always the case with conflicts that drag on,” he notes. We saw this with Syria, or any conflict where there are important components of our society who identify with the suffering of the parties involved. »
“The longer it lasts, the more violence there is. The more we are exposed to violence, the more it keeps us in a spirit of confrontation, unease, frustration,” summarizes the scientific director of the CPRLV.