By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
Superior Court Justice Louis Charette has broadly expanded a provisional interlocutory injunction against pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests so that demonstrators cannot protest within 50 metres of numerous Jewish community institutions throughout Montreal.The defendants are Independent Jewish Voices, Montreal4Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal (PYMMontreal), Alliance4Palestine.QC and Bara Iyad Abuhamed, the latter of whom faces charges of assaulting a police officer during a trespassing protest by an anti-Israel mob inside Carrefour Laval.
The judge wrote that in his view, “there is the existence of urgency, an appearance of right, a serious and/or irreparable prejudice suffered by lntervenors (the added institutions) and the balance of inconvenience lies in lntervenors’ favour, thereby satisfying the requirements for the issuance of a provisional injunction.” The judgment also authorizes the added Jewish institutions and their representatives to “call upon any policing authority to enforce the order to intervene.”
The original injunction was brought by Neil Oberman, Spiegel Sohmer senior partner, on behalf of Federation CJA and the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, following a March 4 hours-long blockade of the former’s building on Côte Ste. Catherine Road and a March 5 hours-long protest near the synagogue.Federation CJA and CIJA said the injunctions were brought because the anti-Israel protests in Montreal and across Canada “have grown increasingly aggressive, specifically targeting synagogues, community centres and even hospitals, stoking fear in the hearts of Canadian Jews across the country.”
The expanded injunction now prohibits protests within 50 metres of the sidewalk in front of the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, the Federation CJA building, the YM-YWHA building on Westbury Ave., Herzliah High School on Mountain Sights Ave. and United Talmud Torahs of Montreal on St. Kevin, all in what is called the Jewish community campus in Snowdon. It also prohibits protests within 50 metres of the sidewalk outside Beth Israel Beth Aaron Synagogue, Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem and Beth Zion Synagogue in Côte St. Luc: Adath Israel Poale Zedek Anshei Overoff Synagogue and Bais Menchem Chabad Lubavitch in Hampstead; Congregation Shaar Hashomayim and Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount; Congregation Shaare Zedek in NDG; Yeshiva Gedolah in Côte des Neiges, which was fired upon twice late last year; Congregation Beth Ora in St. Laurent; Hebrew Academy in Côte St. Luc; Solomon Schechter Academy in NDG, Jewish People’s School and Peretz School in CSL and École Maimonide in St. Laurent and CSL.
The pro-Palestinian group Independent Jewish Voices, reacting to the injunctions, claims their protests targeted the events, such as IDF reservists speaking at Federation CJA and the Israel real estate event at the Spanish and Portuguese, and not the venues. “Federation CJA’s claims are dangerous and misleading,” the group contends. “Despite claims in their lawsuit, synagogues and Jewish community buildings are not being protested for being Jewish cultural or religious spaces. Events glamorizing genocide and ethnic cleansing are not welcome in our cities, cultural centres and houses of worship. We are disappointed but not surprised to see CJA and CIJA…using legal tools to vilify the protests as ‘antisemitic.’ We have seen these organizations consistently intimidate and demonize grassroots and student organizers over the last six months. We are not the ones stoking fear in the hearts of Jewish community members; our community leaders are telling our fellow Jews to be afraid.”
B’nai Brith Canada, reacting to IJV, stated, “The actions of members of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) have made it abundantly clear, IJV does not represent the views of Canada’s grassroots Jewish community. It also appears as if they have no regard for the rules and laws of this country.”
The Suburban also contacted the Palestinian Youth Movement and await a reply. The other defendants had no contact information. n