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<\/a>Montreal\u2019s city council late Monday adopted the measure, which also removed earlier references to Israeli \u201capartheid\u201d and \u201cgenocide,\u201d after a contentious debate about the role of local government in denouncing conflicts abroad. The amended motion passed with 54 councillors voting in favor and six against.<\/p>\nThe motion was introduced by Projet Montr\u00e9al, a progressive, environmentalist municipal party that forms the opposition in the city council. An original version demanded the city \u201cimmediately suspend its institutional ties with the current government of Israel, its institutions, and its municipalities.\u201d Major Canadian Jewish organizations pushed to discard that clause.<\/p>\n
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada clashed with progressive councillors during Monday\u2019s debate. She argued that it was not the role of a city government to make determinations about international crises, saying that \u201crecognizing the limits of our institution is not turning a blind eye to Gaza.\u201d Changes to the final motion from Martinez Ferrada\u2019s administration focused on diversity and inclusion in Montreal.<\/p>\n
According to the original proposal by Projet Montr\u00e9al, Israeli government representatives would no longer have been invited to Montreal City Hall until Israel \u201creturns to its internationally recognized borders, ceases its violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and ends its violations of international law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initial motion also stipulated that Montreal \u201crecognizes and denounces the apartheid regime imposed in Palestine and the genocide perpetrated there,\u201d citing definitions of \u201capartheid\u201d and \u201cgenocide\u201d that international human rights groups and scholars have used to describe Israel. Another clause condemned rising antisemitism and said \u201cthe Jewish communities of Montreal and elsewhere, as well as people of Israeli origin, cannot be held responsible for the actions of the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The measure\u2019s dilution comes after national Jewish organizations raised strong opposition to the initial language. B\u2019nai Brith Canada said in an open letter to the city council earlier this month that it would be \u201cinappropriate and exacerbate tensions between communities\u201d if Montreal weighed in on the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is deceitful and inflammatory to conflate Israel with Apartheid South Africa, and Canada has rejected the view that Israel\u2019s actions constitute apartheid,\u201d the group said. \u201cNo court of competent jurisdiction has found that a genocide has occurred.\u201d B\u2019nai Brith also linked the proposed policy with antisemitism, saying it would \u201cfurther normalize the targeting of our Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Monday\u2019s vote, B\u2019nai Brith Canada celebrated the motion\u2019s transformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased that the city council did not adopt the deceitful and distorted language contained in the original motion,\u201d Paola Samuel, the regional director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Yehoshua Ellis, a member of the clergy at the Montreal-area synagogue Shaar Hashomayim, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the final motion resulted from Jews \u201cmobilizing\u201d in support of Israel.<\/p>\n
Projet Montr\u00e9al called the solidarity motion a \u201chistoric breakthrough,\u201d but lamented the changes that \u201csignificantly weakened the scope of the original motion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPalestine deserves the same solidarity as Montr\u00e9al has expressed towards so many other peoples,\u201d the party said in a social media statement. \u201cThousands of Montr\u00e9alers have loved ones directly affected and we have the responsibility to stand by their side.\u201d<\/p>\n