Thousands converged on Place du Canada in the center of Montreal on Wednesday to mark the 78th anniversary of Israel’s independence, chanting “Am Yisrael Chai” and wrapping themselves in Israeli, Canadian and pre-1979 Iranian Lion and Sun flags.
“It’s an amazing event. It’s unbelievable to be here in Montreal and feel like we are celebrating in Israel. We really appreciate all the support, and we see the resilience and strength of the Jewish community here—it’s beautiful,” Eliaz Luf, Israel’s Consul General in Montreal, told JNS on Wednesday.
Across the street, counter-demonstrators chanted slogans including “long live the intifada,” “long live the resistance,” “we are all the resistance of Palestine,” “everybody hates Zionists,” and “brick by brick, wall to wall, Israel is going to fall.”
“I think they should start to believe in peace instead of war, and then miracles can happen in the Middle East,” Luf added, referring to the counter-protesters.
Iranians, who support the Jewish community, held a large flag along the sidewalk and responded to the counter-protesters’ chants. “Today, we are celebrating the birthday of Israel. We, as the Iranian Persian community, support Israel and [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu. We support our country and our people and the effort to stop that terrorist regime and its leaders who have been in power since 1979,” Majid, 46, from Montreal, told JNS.
“We support Israel, we support America. Thank you, Bibi Netanyahu, for all the support for Iran. We have no issue with Israel. The Islamic regime forced me to walk on the flag of Israel when I was nine years old,” he continued.
Referring to the counter-protesters, Majid said they receive support and funding from Iran’s Islamic regime. “They take money from gas revenues. Hamas and Hezbollah both receive money from the regime to support their organizations,” he added.
Majid, who has lived in Canada for 23 years after arriving at age 21, said he hopes to return to his native country one day. “We are going to fix the world together. Terrorists are our enemy. We don’t need nuclear weapons—they use them to threaten the world,” he said.
Christian Mehrandish said Israel’s intervention against the Islamic regime was among the reasons he came to mark the anniversary. “Contrary to the propaganda that the Iranian regime has fed us for 47 years, Israel is a good people, a good community, and we hope for good relations in the future between Israel and Iran, and between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his majesty Reza Pahlavi,” he said, referring to Iran’s exiled crown prince.
“The people on the other side must understand that history is changing and that Iranians, Palestinians and Israelis should not wage war but seek a better quality of life together,” he added.
Howard Staviss, who led the event for 15 years when it was previously held as a march from Phillips Square to Place du Canada, said the format has likely changed due to security concerns. He estimated that about 4,000 Israel supporters attended the gathering. Staviss added that the counter-protesters were not representative of Montreal’s Muslim community.
Calls for the destruction of the state of Israel from the counter-demonstrators—some waving puppets of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu—were largely drowned out by music from Israeli artists such as Omer Adam played over loudspeakers.
Passing cars intermittently stopped, with some drivers expressing support for the Israeli gathering and others encouraging counter-protesters waving Palestinian flags.
“I have been coming here for about 20 years,” Jacob Kincler told JNS. “Life has changed. The mayor of Montreal would attend the rally in person to congratulate the Jewish community; the prime minister of Canada would record a video message to be shown on a large screen; and other politicians would come on stage to speak. None of them are here now because, over the years, the Arab community, with the war taking place, has very aggressively tried to cancel the Jewish community and Jewish life,” he said.
“Politicians are afraid. There are more and more Arabs, and they vote,” he added. Kincler said the Jewish community must remain resilient. “The people on the other side don’t matter. You even see Orthodox Jews supporting them. As long as they don’t come to bother us, let them say whatever they want—nobody gives a damn,” he said.
Antisemitic incidents in Canada have surged by approximately 670% since the Hamas-led onslaught on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In Toronto, Jews are the most targeted group, according to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. A May 14, 2025, report by the Toronto Police Service found that although Jews make up less than 4% of the city’s population, anti-Jewish incidents accounted for 40% of all hate crimes and 81% of religiously motivated hate crimes.
Jewish schools in Montreal and Toronto have been struck by gunfire, while synagogues in Montreal and Vancouver have been targeted in arson attacks. An elderly Jewish woman was stabbed in an antisemitic attack in Ottawa in August 2025, and an Orthodox Jewish father was assaulted in front of his children in Montreal.
Despite the surge, Kincler said he feels safe and that security remains strong overall. “No one can tell what will happen in the future, but we feel okay, secure and safe. It bothers us to see how Canada has changed—not for the better—when it comes to the Jewish people and Israel,” he said.
Ernest Mailhot attended the rally wearing a sign reading “fighting Jew-hatred is a union issue.” “I am a longtime union activist, and I think the rise of antisemitism is an issue that is very important for union movements to take up,” he said.
“We’ve seen an increase in antisemitism and attacks not just on Israel, but on Jews around the world. It is used to divide working people, and this is why we oppose it. Israel has a right to exist as a refuge for Jews, and as we see with the rise in antisemitism, it is more necessary than ever,” he added.
