Judge Places 10-Day Injunction Against Disruptive Anti-Israel Protests at Quebec Jewish Community Buildings

By Hamodia Staff

Anti-Israel protestors who allegedly harassed Jewish attendees at a local real estate expo in Montreal are banned from holding demonstrations for at least 10 days, following a ruling from a Quebec judge, The Gazette reported Wednesday.

The ban applies to all anti-Israel protests within around 150 feet of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, and close-by Jewish institutions in Snowdon, in response to allegations by event-goers that protestors spat on and shoved Jewish people attending a Tuesday real estate expo held in the historic Montreal synagogue. Attendees say that they were stuck inside the shul for several hours due to the protestors.

That protest was organized by the same groups that have called for protests in various New York and New Jersey areas, as well as Toronto and Canada, against a company that is holding expos on buying Israeli real estate.

The expo series, called the “Great Real Estate Event,” is held in conjunction with several organizations, including the Emanuel Group, and the Israeli American Council.

More locations of the series, all in March include an event in Toronto on the 7th, Teaneck on the 10th, Lawrence on the 12th, and Midwood on the 13th.

The anti-Israel protests, organized by the radical Pal-Awda and Palestinian Assembly groups, are planned for all of the events.

Despite what protest organizers have said to media outlets – that their opposition is due to the sale of properties in Yehudah and Shomron – their websites speak a different story.

The Palestinian Assembly writes on its website that it envisions a removal of the State of Israel, to be replaced with a state which has “morality and indigenous dignity, equity and justice for all Palestinians” in what it calls Palestine. Pal-Awda, which appears to be the same as the Al-Awda group, has expressed support for the Hamas terror group. In November 2018, Al-Awda co-founder and NY chair Lamis Deek shared a link from Hamas’s official page praising Hamas terrorists, saying that they are “astounded from your bravery. Glory is for the martyrs,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

“The NYPD is aware and is planning to contain and secure the protest,” read a statement from the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition. “They stress that there is no concern for the community. Flatbush Shomrim will be onsite as well.”

Justice Serge Gaudet, who issued Wednesday’s ruling, noted that Federation CJA and the synagogue “have established the necessity of an urgent intervention” by the court and “urgency has been established” for a temporary injunction as the court investigates and considers a permanent ban.

The Jewish Federation CJA applauded the judge’s decision, citing the need for Jewish institutions to shut down due to safety concerns after allegedly being harassed by protestors.

“It’s unfortunate that in a democratic society where protests are allowed … a building where Jewish organizations, such as a Holocaust center, a public library where seniors and Holocaust survivors come for services and where youth come to be part of the community has to be shut down by an angry mob of protesters the evening of an event,” Federation CJA president and CEO Yair Szlak told The Gazette.