Wendy Sachs

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Wendy Sachs, the American director and executive producer of the documentary October 8, came to Montreal last week to show solidarity with Concordia and McGill students victimized by anti-Israel protesters and to denounce a lack of police action against those protesters.

The film chronicles the explosion of antisemitism that took place after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped.

Sachs was outside Concordia’s downtown Hall Building, along with Concordia Jewish student Anastasia Zorchinsky, also head of the student group StartUp Nation; and Muslim McGill student Raihaana Adira. The group was near Concordia’s Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies, which was vandalized just before the Jewish holiday of Passover.

At Canadian showings of the film, Sachs says, “we’re seeing insane protests — people who were trying to see the film were stopped by protesters, security and police had to be called in.” One of those protests took place at Quartier Cavendish in Côte St. Luc April 7.

“The level of antisemitism exploding here in Montreal, it seems like Ground Zero for Jew hatred right now,” she added. “That’s why I came here, I’m getting DMs (direct messages), text messages and emails from people in Toronto and Montreal, saying to me ‘I want to see your film, I’m afraid to go to the theatre in Montreal because of the hate.’”

The Suburban asked Sachs for her reaction to the Quartier Cavendish protest, during which police said they could not eject the activists because they had not committed a crime, notwithstanding CSL Mayor Mitchell Brownstein citing to them the Criminal Code provision against intimidation.

“It’s really disappointing, and this is what we’ve seen with campus protests around the world, and in the streets of London and New York where they’re just not shutting it down,” Sachs said. “There’s sometimes a confusion between free speech and hate speech, and that’s what we’re seeing on university campuses in the States. When you’re crossing the line into harassment, bullying and real threats, it’s very scary. It seems with the Jewish community, it’s more permissive to harass.”

Adira, 21, said there is a double standard taking place regarding protests. “If this was the Jewish community protesting the Muslim community, it would be shut down so fast,” she said. “The situation on campus has been horrible. I was bullied and harassed off of student government for saying October 7 was not heroic and for calling it what it was — a terrorist attack.” The McGill student added the situation at Quartier Cavendish is “really reflective of what’s happening at our campuses and synagogues. At [last year’s] event at the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue, the protesters were chanting ‘Raihaana, Raihaana, you’re a terrorist!’ I was horrified! They knew my face and my name. On campus, they take pictures of me and post them on social media. I’m regularly called a baby killer, a genocide lover and a Zionazi. This doesn’t happen to students who glorify terrorism.”

Zorchinsky, 20, said everyone should follow the law. “I saw what happened at Cavendish Mall, and I was really disappointed with the reaction of the police,” she told The Suburban. “We see that on campus with protests almost every single week. I’ve been harassed, my life has been threatened many times and there have been no consequences to those students.” The Concordia student also said she was not allowed on campus during Rage Week, during the first anniversary of the terrorist attack, despite having an injunction.”The police stopped me, saying ‘it’s not safe for you.’ Every person who had a Palestinian flag, who had a keffiyeh, was able to pass by and protest right here. There’s some sort of double standard.”

Sachs agreed. “The double standards are just so alarming.” n