During a Montreal City Council meeting on Monday, the municipal government postponed a vote on a motion calling on the city to sever institutional ties with Israel.
The measure, introduced by the progressive opposition party Projet Montréal in Quebec, accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and calls on the city to suspend relations until Israel “returns to its internationally recognized borders, ceases its violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, and ends its violations of international law.”
Jonah Fried, a spokesman for B’nai Brith Canada, told JNS that the vote was delayed until August after Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada’s administration introduced a counter-motion titled “On Civil Peace, Intercultural Dialogue and Living Together.”
“This is a win for the Jewish community,” he said of the two-month delay. “A lot can happen between now and August.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Federation CJA called council members to reject the proposal and urged residents to contact elected officials to voice their opposition.
“By taking a one-sided position on one of the world’s most polarized conflicts, this motion risks further fraying the social fabric, contributing to a social climate that is endangering Jewish Montrealers who are already facing unprecedented levels of fear and hostility,” Paola Samuel, regional director of B’nai Brith Quebec, stated.
“Municipal governments are elected to run the city, keep residents safe, deliver services and bring people together, not to inflame tensions by taking a controversial position on a distant geopolitical conflict,” she said. “This motion is profoundly misguided.”
