By Joel Goldenberg and Dan Laxer
The Suburban
SPVM officers moved quickly to intervene after anti-Israel protesters at Sunday’s Pride Parade attempted to block the Jewish Pride group Ga’ava from proceeding along René Lévesque East.
The agitators began raising their signs and chanting at the corner of Sanguinet. Numerous officers raced to the protesters and kept them moving, lightly pushing one resister with a baton. We later overheard that a balloon with urine had been thrown by an agitator. SPVM spokesperson Jeanne Drouin told The Suburban that a 35-year-old woman was arrested at 3 p.m., but she could not confirm if the object containing the liquid was a balloon or something else, or if the liquid was urine as of Monday. Drouin said there may not be a need to analyze the liquid, as a charge would be armed assault in any case.
Ga’ava participants as well as CIJA Quebec vice-president Eta Yudin stayed well back of the agitators and away from a lone protester at the end of the parade route yelling in a deranged fashion, “free Palestine!” Notably along the route, most observers cheered Ga’ava as they passed by.
We heard that Ga’ava members were informed by police on Sunday morning that they would be there for the group in great numbers, and their quick efforts during the attempted disruption were greatly appreciated.
Carlos Godoy, president of Ga’ava, told The Suburban “LGBTQ+ Jews belong in all LGBTQIA2+ spaces, we belong in Quebec, in Montreal, in Canada, and LGBTQ Jews today walked in the Pride parade like we’ve done for the past 20 years.
“Attempting to blockade the parade by force and violence is not inclusion and not diversity either,” he added.
Yudin pointed out that 2025 was not the first year anti-Israel protesters tried to disrupt the parade.
“Pride organizers were ready, the police were ready and we saw how swiftly those who tried to disrupt the parade were escorted out,” she added. “That’s the kind of action we expect in Quebec as we all come together to protect our values and fight against hate.”
Otherwise, the parade seemed to go off without a hitch with several groups and floats making their way eastward from Metcalfe with no disruptions.
The controversy that had organizers Fierté Montréal in the spotlight over the past few weeks took a backseat to celebration. The organization made the announcement, last week – along with an apology – that Ga’ava, the Jewish gay group, and CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Afffairs, would be welcome in the parade after all.
Fierté Montréal had originally banned Ga’ava, the largest gay Jewish group in the country, after one complaint about allegedly politically-charged language. It had also banned the Iranian Montreal Rainbow Association. But there was a small group of revellers marching in the parade carrying a banner that read “Freedom For Iran.”
The group and its supporters were further back in the parade, proudly waving rainbow Israeli flags, with all manner of rainbow-coloured Stars of David on banners and t-shirts. Also marching with them was Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz.
In terms of political parties, new Quebec Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez marched with party members. There was also a group marching behind a rainbow-coloured federal Liberal banner and another with a Parti Québécois banner. Projet Montréal party leader Luc Rabouin was spotted marching in the parade along with CDN-NDG borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa and party supporters.
Following the parade, The Suburban saw that even a Beatle was not spared from anti-Israel rhetoric. A poster not far from the parade route promoting Paul McCartney’s upcoming Bell Centre concert was vandalized with a Hitler moustache on McCartney and the blood libel message “stop genocide now”. n