Anti-NATO and pro-Palestinian riots broke out in Montreal this week, and on Friday night, things got violent. Police report that the protesters were smashing windows out of buildings, setting cars on fire, setting off smoke bombs, and throwing metal barriers at cops who tried to intervene. They marched through the streets with Palestinian flags and burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The rioters chose Montreal because the city is currently hosting delegates for the annual NATO parliamentary assembly.
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You might be thinking that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on top of things immediately, working with local officials to calm the situation. Just kidding — I know our readers are smarter than that. Trudeau was actually about as far away mentally as one can get; he was dancing the night away at a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.
While an anti-Israel mob was on a rampage in Montreal, vandalizing the city, Justin Trudeau was busy dancing at a Taylor Swift concert.
🇨🇦🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/LcS1fHsRjI
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 23, 2024
X users posted pictures and videos of the PM living it up among the Swifties, handing out friendship bracelets and taking selfies. He looked more like a giddy 15-year-old girl than one of the most powerful men in the world.
Trudeau acting like a teenage girl and showing off his friendship bracelets at a Taylor Swift concert
All while the country is RIOTING and on FIRE
What a pathetic leader this man is pic.twitter.com/hA2kh28kfr
— The Pleb 🌍 Reporter (@truckdriverpleb) November 23, 2024
Just casually trading friendship bracelets with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau 🤯
Via: sussywussy696969/TT pic.twitter.com/6hekfQvDsi
— MuchMusic (@Much) November 24, 2024
For what it’s worth, Trudeau did condemn the riots and violence on Saturday with a half-hearted statement on X. But many Canadians felt like it was too little too late. Many even compared him to the Roman Emperor Nero.
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What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling. Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them.
The RCMP are in communication with local police. There must be consequences, and rioters held accountable.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 23, 2024
Police estimate that about 800 people were involved in the night’s events, and they had to use chemical agents to break up the crowd at one point. Montreal police chief Fady Dagher said that the protest began as a peaceful demonstration but another group got involved, and it turned into chaos. He said they have arrested three people and expect to arrest more in the near future.
“I can’t make the correlation with yesterday’s acts, whether they were antisemitic or not,” he said during a press conference on Saturday, adding: “I find it totally intolerable, absolutely intolerable, to attack law enforcement officers who are there to keep the peace. All the demonstrations we’ve had so far have, generally, gone very well.”
The protests were reportedly organized by the Divest for Palestine collective and anti-capitalist group La Convergence des Luttes Anticapitalistes (CLAC). Benoît Allard, a Divest for Palestine spokesperson, claims police injured several protesters who ended up in the hospital. He also said the protests were an effort to denounce “complicity with Israel’s military while it’s conducting its genocide in Gaza.”
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Several local residents condemned the violence. A student from Montreal’s McGill University told the Montreal Gazette, “It’s very unfortunate. I don’t have a personal connection, and I understand people feel very strongly, but I think there are limits to civil disobedience. I think it makes their point less impactful when it devolves into violence.”
