Around a hundred people gathered at Victoria Square on Tuesday noon to demonstrate against the presence of a pro-Palestinian encampment in this park in downtown Montreal. “I want the park to be free,” said Peter Villani, one of the organizers of the rally.
These demonstrators, who say they are not affiliated with any distinct group, are demanding access to public space, which would be restricted by the camps set up at Victoria Square and McGill University. “Montreal is being held hostage,” says Peter Villani.
“They can ask for what they want, but they cannot permanently occupy the park and install infrastructure as if it were their home,” continues Danny Shack, who participated in this counter-demonstration.
The camp established on Square Victoria brings together around a hundred people. It was around the statue of Queen Victoria, vandalized with paint on Monday, that the demonstrators gathered. Divest for Palestine, the collective behind the encampment, had launched a call for a rally on its social networks in order to “protect” the encampment in the face of a “Zionist demonstration against the popular al-Soumoud encampment” (“tenacity” in Arabic).
Protesters from both camps remained peaceful and did not cross the street that separated them. A large police presence was on site.
“No link” with the situation in Gaza
On one of the signs at the demonstration against the encampment, we could read in English that “Victoria Square is being taken hostage by terrorist sympathizers”. Another called for “evicting racist squatters”. Some demonstrators also brandished flags of Israel, Quebec or Canada.
According to Mr. Villani, the rally has “no connection with what is happening in Israel and Gaza.” Ruben Hassan, who was present at the rally, added that despite his own beliefs about the conflict in Gaza, “this march is not about Israel.” For him, Israeli flags simply represent a way of expressing the Judaism of the people present.
Across the street, Palestinian flags and other signs were waved. Slogans like “ Free Palestine [libérez la Palestine] » or “Bad Zionists” were thrown around throughout the discussions.
The CDPQ remains silent
At a press conference shortly before the demonstrations, Benoît Allard, spokesperson for the Disinvest for Palestine collective, declared that the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) had not responded to the demands of the pro-Palestinian campers. He took the opportunity to indicate that the Victoria Square encampment will remain “until our demands are met”.
Divesting for Palestine demands, among other things, that “CDPQ immediately divest its $14.2 billion investment in 87 companies complicit in the Israeli occupation” and that it adopt a “transparent control process to guarantee respect for human rights and international law. The closure of the Quebec Office in Israel is also among the demands.
In response to the protest, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec maintained that its total investments in Israel represented only a small fraction of its portfolio, but the fund manager did not declare that it would divest from the country.
According to camp organizers, 60 to 75 people currently reside there. Tarpaulins raised all around hide the tents, and access to the interior of the camp is restricted “to those who sleep there,” explains Benoît Allard.
On Monday evening, activists threw paint at the statue of Queen Victoria and attempted to attach ropes to it before police intervened. Benoît Allard did not confirm the responsibility of the members of the camp. “It’s an initiative that falls within the framework of our movement [contre la colonisation] and we are in solidarity with the struggles which call into question the presence of colonial symbols,” he simply indicated.
With The Canadian Press