Anti-Israel activists in Montreal have set up a new encampment in Montreal’s famed Victoria Square, and have vandalized a statue of the square’s namesake.
Organizers are calling their protest the “Al-Soumoud popular camp” and want Quebec pension fund to divest from the Jewish state.
In a statement to the media, the Divest for Palestine Collective said they are demanding “that CDPQ immediately withdraw from its $14.2 billion worth of investments in the 87 companies identified as complicit in the Israeli occupation.”
They also want to see the Quebec government close its Tel Aviv office.
The encampment differs from others seen in Canada as it does not take place on a university campus.
“It’s not just the universities that are complicit in the Israeli occupation, it’s also public institutions, the Quebec government and the Caisse de dépôt et placement,” said organizer Benoit Allard in an interview with La Presse.
Allard also said in an interview with City News that the encampment will “stay here until our demands are met.”
“We are expanding this camp, we are expecting people to join us, people are currently joining us, we are getting more and more people involved,” he added.
The encampment has dozens of tents and tarps, and messages some would consider to be hateful.
There are several messages praising armed Palestinian uprisings, one noting “The Intifada is growing” and another reading “Intifada in our lifetime.”
The phrase “Peace is the white man’s word, resistance is ours,” as well as Hamas triangles, were also seen.
Anti-Israel activists also desecrated the square’s Queen Victoria statue.
The statue was splattered with paint. The words “Free Palestine” and “F**k the crown” were also sprayed painted on it.
“Today, we refuse to celebrate the Western nationalism responsible for all the horrors of colonialism here and elsewhere,” said the organizers on social media. “As a result, we will not let these symbols stand erected in peace in our public spaces, like the statue of Queen Victoria.”
True North reached out to the Montreal police service to inquire if they intend to remove the encampment. They did not respond.