By Nia Williams
(Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday condemned violence and antisemitism at anti-NATO and pro-Palestinian protests in downtown Montreal on Friday night time, the place NATO delegates have gathered for the alliance’s annual meeting.
Round 300 delegates from NATO members and companion states are assembly in Montreal from Nov. 22-25.
Native media reported that protesters burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and lit smoke bombs.
Two separate protest teams merged right into a march, and a few protesters began throwing smoke bombs and metallic objects at officers policing the demonstration, Montreal police mentioned.
Police used tear fuel and batons to disperse the group and three individuals have been arrested for assaulting officers and obstructing police work. Protesters set two vehicles on hearth and smashed home windows because the march was dispersed round 7 pm ET, police mentioned.
Movies and footage posted to social media confirmed masked rioters burning flares and battering storefront home windows.
“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,” Trudeau mentioned in a publish on social media web site X.
Professional-Palestinian protests have been going down throughout Canada because the Israel-Gaza conflict began late final 12 months.
Israel’s 13-month marketing campaign in Gaza has killed greater than 44,000 individuals and displaced practically all of the enclave’s inhabitants not less than as soon as, based on Gaza officers.
The conflict was launched in response to an assault by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 individuals and captured greater than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has mentioned.
