SLOBODIAN: Evasion and self-deception all the rage among Montreal authorities

To be clear, it wasn’t an anti-NATO riot, it was an anti-Israel/Jew riot by pro-terrorist supporters that set Montreal afire last Friday.It sure happened at a bad time for the Liberals. They're barely treading water in the polls. Warnings proved correct that Canada was a tinderbox because of the slow-burning fuse of ugly, endless protests for 13 months they’ve done nothing to control.That riot deflated the Liberal’s relentless cries/lies that Islamophobia is the biggest threat in Canada. The smoke that wafted through Montreal’s streets left the flailing Liberals smelling bad.But don’t go jumping to conclusions that politics, prejudice or spin will interfere with truth or violent pro-terrorist supporters getting charged.Why, that would be as bad as Montreal police leaping to a wild conclusion that someone in an 800-strong mob smashing windows, heaving smoke bombs and metal barriers, and assaulting police would cross a line and set two vehicles on fire.First, a police spokesman blamed rioters. By Monday — after aging Swiftie Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had time to rest from dancing at the Taylor Swift concert while Montreal was on fire — another spokesperson said they couldn’t be sure who torched the vehicles. “What happened exactly? It will be determined with the investigation. We cannot confirm or not. We don’t know exactly if it was caused by the protesters or not,” Montreal police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc told the Montreal Gazette.The cars were set ablaze when police deployed chemical irritants to disperse the raging, window-smashing crowd. Did an arsonist or neighbourhood kids with matches slip into the chaos to set vehicles on fire?Initially, Montreal’s police Fady Dagher said “I can assure you … it is a few groups” causing the mayhem.No wait, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante decided it was professional vandals belonging to the Black Bloc just “thinking of themselves” when other ‘protesters’ were “sharing concern about what’s happening in Palestine.”Cut the bull, already. Their predominant “concern” is that Israel and Jews exist. And that Israel, after being relentlessly bombed from all sides after Hamas terrorist demons invaded and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, is allowed to fight back.Canadians are fed up with these hate-infested thugs “sharing concerns” at protests. But, according to Plante, blame for Montreal certainly shouldn’t be levelled at anyone in those pro-Palestinian/Hamas mobs that have gotten away with plugging our streets, screeching death to Jews, and burning our Canadian flag.Plante’s professional vandals comment came on the heels of her saying “no” when asked if the riot was antisemitic.On Saturday Montreal police chief Fady Dagher said he couldn’t “make the correlation” with the acts being antisemitic.Maybe Dagher should ask the cops battling on the ground if they heard ‘death to Jew’ chants or any Nazi salutes? What about that torched “mannequin,” as the CBC initially simply called it, that in fact was a mannequin of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?Plante found the actions of the thugs “shocking.” Why? Montreal police have attended 500 pro-Hamas demonstrations that haven’t been pretty. The riot was a matter of time.Divest for Palestine Collective and the Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles coordinated to converge and riot as the 70th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly met.Police arrested three people for obstructing police work and assaulting an officer — then turned them loose to maybe show up for a court date. Jew hate charges or arrests? Nah.But by golly, more arrests will be made. Expect delays in identifying the criminals, Plante and Dagher said, because they were wearing masks. Just masks? Why not mention that sea of keffiyehs on Montreal streets?It's simple. To protect them.The refusal to ban face coverings at protests — like many countries and some US states have done — protects anarchists and pro-terrorists who have firebombed Canadian Jewish kindergartens and synagogues.Plante and Dagher defended the actions of Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). Why? Citizens pining for peace and safety appreciate them. Canadians know police are all that stand between them and hate-lusting mobs.What Montreal police — and police services across Canada — need to be defended from is politics and ideology handcuffing them. Turn them loose to do their jobs according to the law.If Plante and the chief are serious about more arrests, accept Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s offer to send Sûreté du Québec officers to Montreal to hunt the “thugs and vandals” down. Worried there might be a few keffiyeh wearers hauled in with the anarchists?Would that look too unsympathetic to their imaginary cause?Unlike the sympathetic coverage of those poor protesters.The Gazette reported that a Divest for Palestine spokesman “denounced what it called police violence” against rioters. He wailed that four of them had to be taken to hospital.So, stay at home next time morons, and you won’t get hurt.No mention of how the police injured at the scene are doing. Imagine worried police families watching the chaos unfold on TV or social media.The spokesman, not worth even mentioning his name, defended setting the mannequin of Netanyahu on fire. So, the pro-terrorist thugs did play with matches..He said the demonstration was against Zionists, not Jews. That old ruse to justify rabid antisemitism while radicals wail ‘death to Jews’ is getting old.Meanwhile, chief Dagher said there were no reports on the weekend about hate crimes or antisemitic acts.Why bother? Montreal officials have ignored pleas from the Jewish community for more protection as antisemitic — and apparently Islamophobic — incidents and acts skyrocketed, according to Dagher. Jewish community leaders issued a plea to Montrealers to stand up to the hate they’re facing.Similar pleas have been made to no avail across Canada.According to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) 70% of religious-motivated hate crimes are perpetrated against the Jewish community.And the Liberals have done nothing.But they jumped in, cabinet ministers and all. Trudeau finally managed to say something pointless at noon the next day.He denounced the Montreal riot they all declared was rife with the antisemitism that Plante didn’t see.Appalling! Absolutely unacceptable! No room for hate! There must be consequences! Rioters must be held accountable! And so on. All things they’ve dutifully said before.Trudeau fiercely defended the right to peacefully protest — a right he didn’t afford Freedom Convoy 2022 truckers he had arrested, jailed, and for extra measure, froze bank accounts.He's proven time and again that his words were, are, and likely will always be meaningless.Action is needed if these suddenly distraught Liberals really care about the antisemitism they’ve contributed to getting out of hand in Canada.Swiftly adopt simple, solid recommendations made by CIJA at a November 25 press conference on Parliament Hill urging the government to “take immediate and coordinated action to address the alarming rise in antisemitism across the country.”Recommendations include convening a national forum to combat hate crimes, terrorism, and antisemitism; strengthen enforcement of Canada’s hate crime laws; bolster community safety problems; and address radicalization and extremism by banning terrorist symbols and “cracking down on those glorifying terrorism, which emboldens extremists and undermines Canadian security.”“The time for talk is over,” said Richard Marceau, CIJA’s VP and general counsel.“This is not just a Jewish issue; it is a Canadian issue. Antisemitism threatens the very fabric of our society. It undermines the freedoms and safety of all Canadians.”Right now — from Trudeau and cabinet ministers, to mayors, to police chiefs who care about hanging onto their jobs — quit the political interference and unhandcuff police. Let them reign in disrupter criminals pretending to support a righteous case.Send a hard message to pro-terrorist thugs who are no doubt, in the planning stages of another, potentially worse fiery ‘protest.’Don’t expect the Liberals — who for ideological reasons, the antisemitism some may harbour in their heart, votes, campaign donations, or pure cowardice — to do the right thing.As Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre pointed out, they created the problem that’s putting all Canadians at risk. Trudeau’s “disastrous” nine years as PM is directly to blame for what led to the Montreal riots.To quote the Liberals own words in this context, but this time with sincerity: Absolutely unacceptable! There must be consequences!Those waving ISIS flags, banners with photos glorifying diabolical terrorists and calling for death don’t belong in Canada.But Jews do. They’ve endured enough. They must be protected.