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Feb. 21, 2022
MONTREAL – B’nai Brith Canada is seeking clarification after a prominent Montreal Councillor “liked“ a Facebook post by a virulent anti-Israel group.
Alexander Norris, leader of Project Montreal, the incumbent political party, liked a Facebook post by Independent Jewish Voices (IJV). The group advocates for boycotts, divestments, sanctions (BDS) against the Jewish State.
The BDS movement does not accept the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their historic homeland where Jews have been indigenous for thousands of years.
In response to Norris’ like, B’nai Brith has written to Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, asking for clarification to determine if Norris spoke for her administration when he liked the post on Facebook.
Notably, in 2020, the Plante administration refused to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
“IJV is a small fringe group and entirely unrepresentative of the greater Jewish community,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “A high-level officer in the Plante administration endorsing BDS is deeply concerning to the Jewish community, especially after her administration’s rejection of IHRA. Norris is the House Leader of Mayor Plante’s party. Does he speak for her? If not, we think he is compromised and should be replaced.”
“The BDS movement feels reinvigorated by the widely discredited Amnesty International report,” said Marvin Rotrand, National Director of the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith and a former Montreal City Councillor. “The Canadian Government rejects it. Bizarrely, the City of Montreal is taking a different path with a prominent leader liking a post that endorses the movement. Mayor Plante must set the record straight and address the perception of pervasive antisemitism in her administration.”
