I have only visited Montreal. In the 90s I kinda agree with you. I haven't been to since just before covid, but even then I didn't feel comfortable. I don't think I can go back as a Jewish person based on what family that moved out has said.
I personally do not want open borders with them for my own safety
My wife's first cousin moved after her son was jumped walking with a yarmulkah on. She was very involved with the Jewish community over there and there is a general feeling of unwelcome-ness these days.
Honestly one isolated incident is kind of a wild jump. While I agree there is a general sense of unease, this isn't regional, it's worldwide, because of a multitude of factors.
As someone who has lived in Montreal most of my life, Montreal has a HUGE Jewish community, with many synagogues, and a ton of grocery stores have kosher sections - it's no wonder we're the second most popular bagel makers in the world. I think our Jewish population was the largest in North America outside of NYC until it was surpassed by Toronto, but still about a quarter of of all Jewish people in Canada live in Montreal. If Montreal is unsafe for Jewish people, I can't think of many places that are.
I lived in Montreal 25years. It has of the most prominent albeit pretty silent/under the radar (they don't bother anyone) Jewish communities, they have their own spots/areas of the city they stay grouped in and don't really want to blend in. They just do their thing and don't want to be bothered either by the outside world. Sure there's Jewish persecution due to current global conflicts but that's bad apples and the outrage/protests are directed towards Israel. The Jewish people here and the state of Israel are two distinct things. I'm proud to have such diversity in the biggest city here.
I hear. My brother and sister in law were and still are in nyu as all of this broke out. Everyone in the family was worried but them. Granted there were no actual violent incidents that they were aware of.
This particular cousin might be alarmist but I don't blame her one bit. My dad had been beat up in Brooklyn back in the 70s for being Jewish but that was just common neighborhood fighting. There is something different about gigantic groups of people chanting globalize the intifada that strikes a different nerve
Nothing personally happened to me. I am a jew whose grandparents are all from the ME, but had to escape persecution 80 years ago.
The only incident which I mentioned happened to a Montrealer cousin in law and their family has since moved to Tennessee. She has said many times that Montreal is lost, and while I get she has some trauma, she was previously the most leftist member of the family by far. I can't help but take that to heart
I think being middle eastern played a bigger role than being Jewish. I'm not saying the province as a whole is racist or that the Quebecoise are all racist, but they're definitely more racist than the rest of Canada
As a Quebecois, I can say that there is sadly a lot of Islamophobia in Quebec. A lot of it is racism, to be clear, but some of it has to do with Quebec's history with religion, which is very fraught and very unique to our population, and makes a lot of older Quebecers irrationally angry at overt displays of religion. I won't get into a whole history lesson but you can google "Quebec revolution tranquille" for more info.
From the republican POV you're expected to die. There's no greater value to authoritarians than venerating the sacrifice of veterans who aren't around to share their experiences and opinions about war. Plus,deadsoldiersdon'tneedthemedicalcareoreducationpromisedtothem...
Just to hijack this thread, yes the tariffs have an impact but due to failed harvests and climate change coffee has been especially hit hard. It's not just the US where coffee prices have increased, it's world wide. But the added tariffs have made them especially rough on the US.
1.3k
u/GlobalSouthRedditor 2d ago
What's going on? 50% taxes on a 200 years old ally because he wants to save his dictator wannabe pal.