Joel Ceausu – The Suburban LJI Reporter
Montreal’s commissioner for the fight against racism and systemic discrimination responded to the firebombing of Jewish institutions with silence, says the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
Bochra Manaï’s “response to the bullets fired at Jewish schools: Silence again.” Instead, said CIJA Quebec vice-president Eta Yudin, “Manaï chose to share content on social networks from groups that celebrated the October 7 massacre committed by Hamas, including a group that celebrated with candy at a rally immediately after the massacre.”
Many Quebecers, including Premier François Legault, opposed her appointment for her strident opposition to Bill 21 and couching Quebec as a standard-bearer for racism. Manaï was the subject of criticism before her 2021 appointment but calls for her resignation are increasing amid the ongoing wave of anti-Jewish intimidation and violence in Montreal.
Montreal’s Opposition Leader Aref Salem slammed her recent social media activity (screenshots of which are circulating on various platforms), sharing content labelling the Israeli counter-offensive in Gaza as genocide, promoting a rally in Montreal, and according to Le Devoir, content from groups who celebrated the Hamas murderous October 7 rampage. “After Ms. Manaï’s recent public statements, the administration must ask itself whether she still has the legitimacy and moral authority to hold the position.”
Last week, Manaï explained her role was not to make declarations on the city’s behalf, but rather to eliminate systemic racism within city departments, systems and employee ranks. But it did not go unnoticed by CIJA, B’nai Brith, and even PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, that after increasing violence and intimidation against Jewish Montrealers, and police reporting major upswings in antisemitic acts, Manaï chose to garder le silence, save for attending rallies, including – according to Le Devoir – the October 28 rally where imam Adil Charkaoui delivered a speech to an approving crowd calling for extermination of enemies of Gaza which police are analyzing for a possible investigation as hate speech, and Legault denounced as an incitement to violence.
Last week, she broke her silence in a letter to media, insisting “Islamophobic and antisemitic acts and behaviours committed in recent weeks in Montreal are all unacceptable, and the violence must be strongly condemned.” She called her participation in demonstrations a “personal stance… of a woman committed to peace, saddened by the horror of this situation.”
Ensemble Montréal is unimpressed: “In more than two years in this unprecedented position, she failed to come up with a reliable action plan to address systemic racism,” said Salem, adding “the position of commissioner must be discreet, to bring Montreal communities together and to consult them, not divide them.”
Yudin called Manaï’s conduct “inexcusable and disqualifying behaviour… We are at a crucial moment in Montreal’s history. The Jewish community is under attack.” On Wednesday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante assured Manaï would meet with the Jewish community, but Yudin said it “isn’t the sort of issue a one-on-one meeting will solve,” adding Manaï’s silence and social media conduct make it unrealistic to expect any city employee, “especially those who are Jewish,” to have confidence in her ability to fulfill her duties.
Director of B’nai Brith’s League of Human Rights Marvin Rotrand agrees, telling Quebecor Media that Montreal’s anti-racism commissioner participating in demonstrations calling for Israel’s destruction while staying silent about antisemitic acts removes her legitimacy for the post.