Thousands expected at pro-Israel rally in downtown Montreal on Tuesday

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Between 5,000 and 8,000 people are expected at a pro-Israel rally in downtown Montreal on Tuesday, an organizer says.

In recent years, the annual Israel Independence Day event has attracted between 4,000 and 5,000 people, said the organizer. He requested anonymity, saying he feared protesters would target him.

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The event — set to begin at 11 a.m. at Place du Canada — comes as a war rages between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and as pro-Palestinian protesters occupy encampments at McGill University and the Université du Québec à Montréal.

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In previous years, the event began at Phillips Square, with participants marching to Place du Canada. This year, the event will be limited to Place du Canada. Organizers say that’s because they were worried street closures would make it difficult for buses to reach the event.

About 60 buses are scheduled to arrive from nine rallying points on Montreal Island and Laval. In previous years, 30 to 45 buses delivered participants.

Billed as a “celebration of Israel,” the two-hour rally is to feature dancing, a concert and speeches, including one by the consul general of Israel.

“This year marks 76 years since the Jewish people rose as a phoenix from the ashes of the Holocaust just three years earlier and created not only the Middle East’s single democracy but a vibrant, thriving society that has contributed so greatly to the family of free nations,” the Jewish Unity Partnership, which organizes the event, said in a statement.

In previous years, pro-Palestinian protesters have demonstrated at the pro-Israel event.

The Jewish Unity Partnership said about 150 security personnel, including privately hired guards and volunteers, will be on hand Tuesday.

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The organization said it has met with the Montreal police department but did not request additional security.

Mélanie Bergeron, a Montreal police spokesperson, said the force won’t reveal its plan for handling any possible protests.

“We adapt our operations according to each situation and people’s behaviour,” she said. “Our officers are always ready to intervene should there be any excesses.”

Bergeron said the police department’s role is to ensure that protests are peaceful, people and property are protected and they “are carried out in compliance with the laws and regulations in force and with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Citizens have every right to demonstrate if they observe these guidelines.”

On the day of last year’s Israel Independence Day event, a 16-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the burning of Israeli flags taken from a West Island school. The boy later pleaded guilty to arson causing property damage.

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The previous year, a man was assaulted in Westmount while carrying a rolled-up Israeli flag after attending the celebration. In that case, too, a teenager was arrested. The 15-year-old was later acquitted.

On Saturday, protesters waved signs and Palestinian flags in front of the Israeli consulate in Westmount Square to mark the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and to denounce Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

An encampment has been in place on McGill’s downtown campus since April 27 in support of Palestinians and to pressure the university to divest from its investments in Israel.

Two weeks ago, about 100 pro-Israel protesters demonstrated outside the encampment at McGill in opposition to what it called “Jew-hatred on campus.”

On Sunday, a second pro-Palestinian encampment was erected in downtown Montreal, this time at UQAM.

Protesters there are calling for UQAM to launch an academic boycott of Israel and to cancel contracts with companies they believe are supporting the Israeli state. They also want Quebec to shut its newly opened government office in Tel Aviv.

ariga@postmedia.com

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