Grand Prix Cyclistes

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Seven anti-Israel protesters who were at the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Montréal Sunday, at the foot of Mount Royal on Park Avenue, were arrested by the SPVM for obstructing SPVM officers and assaulting a peace officer.

The race was able to proceed without interruption through areas of the city — many streets were blocked to cars Sunday morning and afternoon, including parts of Park, parts of Côte Ste. Catherine and many others.

The protesters, who demonstrated in Quebec City as well, opposed the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech (IPT) team as part of the event. Those demonstrators were Divest for Palestine, Bikers4Palestine, and Palestinians and Jews United.

“If the cities of Montreal and Quebec do not want to remove Israel Premier Tech from the race for their support of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Premier Tech should disassociate itself from Israel, the genocidal state,” A Facebook message from PAJU says.

There were also several incidences of graffiti, but no one was arrested in those cases.

Julien Corona of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs wrote last week that the protesting groups were “continuing their intimidation strategy.

“‘Bullies and their methods are two terms used to describe the actions of those who seek to obtain something through force or intimidation,” he added. “These terms can evoke violent processes and therefore insecurity. Two phenomena that affect Jews, particularly through anti-Semitism, and society as a whole.”

Corona also cited this past summer’s assault of a Jewish man in Park Extension, death threats against Jews in the borough of St. Laurent and violence during the Montreal Pride parade.

“The rise in insecurity and anti-Semitism are intrinsically linked,” Corona wrote. “Therefore, the fight against them must be as well. The climate of hate is here. It ‘gives the go-ahead to more and more people to act violently. The bullies are those who want to attack our shared values. The bullies are also those who behave like delinquents towards citizens who have asked for nothing. Here, the bullies attack Jews or their ‘business’ simply because they are Jewish.” n