A pro-Palestinian protest near Montreal’s Place des Arts at a Christmas market over the weekend drew outrage online as demonstrators claimed Jesus would be living under occupation if he were alive today..In a video originally posted by @kinanaalkhoury, one masked protester addressed the crowd that had gathered, saying, “I want to remind you that the land of Jesus, where Jesus was born, has been under attack by the Zionist entity and, absolutely, that Jesus is Palestinian, and if Jesus were alive today, if Jesus were living in Palestine right now, he would be living under an occupation… in the West Bank, in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.”The protesters, some wearing keffiyehs and allegedly linked to the group Montreal for Palestine, gathered near the arched entrance of the market. Montreal police have not reported any incidents of violence or arrests.The timing of the demonstration, during the Christmas season, sparked widespread criticism online.On X, Salman Sima condemned the protest, noting its coincidence with the recent terrorist attack in Australia, where an Islamic extremist father-and-son team attacked a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 40 in the country’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996..Sima wrote, “On the day the Jewish community was targeted by Islamist terrorists in Bondi Beach, Australia, another group of Islamist terrorists in Montreal, Canada, blocked the entrance of a Christmas market, some fully covering their faces, to claim 'Jesus is Palestinian,' which we know is a total lie, like the other propaganda by Hamas terrorists.This is how you understand that all of the condemnation of anti-Semitism in Canada is nothing except lip service. By the way, if Jesus were Palestinian, why are the jihadists so angry at people who celebrate Jesus’ birthday?”.Columnist Brian Lilley of the Toronto Sun said, “I love the 'Jesus was a Palestinian' nut jobs. It is a historic fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, part of Judea both at the time of his birth and now. Bethlehem used to be a majority Christian city. Now Christians are a minority due to fools like this guy.”.Political commentator Canada Proud also weighed in, questioning the demonstrators’ timing, writing, “This is just one day after the attack in Australia. Do these people have any shame whatsoever?”The protest continues to highlight the ongoing tensions in Western nations over Middle Eastern politics.
