Politicians, Jewish groups outraged by Montreal imam's prayer at pro-Palestinian protest

WARNING: This story contains offensive language.

A controversial Montreal imam's speech at a pro-Palestinian demonstration last month has sparked accusations of hate speech and drawn condemnation from politicians and Jewish advocacy groups.

In a speech to protesters on Oct. 28, Adil Charkaoui, speaking Arabic, denounced "Zionist aggressors" and called on Allah to "kill the enemies of the people of Gaza and to spare none of them."

A video of the speech circulated on social media. It has been the subject of media reports, drawing broad condemnation from Jewish advocacy groups and politicians, including Premier François Legault.

Eta Yudin, the vice-president of the Quebec branch of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), questions how Charkaoui received a platform to address protesters in Montreal. 

"We know that words lead to actions," she said. "A declaration like that could inspire actions and that's not what we want in the streets of Montreal and we're counting on the authorities to investigate." 

Niall Clapham Ricardo, a member of Independent Jewish Voices Montreal, a Jewish group that engages in pro-Palestinian advocacy, said Charkaoui's statements distracted from the message of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. 

"Any antisemitic statement, for me, is unacceptable," he said. "Adil Charkaoui's speech does not represent the movement at all. The movement has been peaceful right across this country.

"In the media a lot, we see this division and that helps people like Adil Charkaoui who want to co-opt this moment and co-opt this movement for reasons that belong to him, but for reasons that are opportunistic."

Charkaoui's comments come as Jewish groups decry a rise in antisemitism across the country and as the Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM) is reporting a sharp increase in reported hate crimes and incidents, primarily against the Jewish community but also against the Arab-Muslim community.

Since Oct. 7, Montreal police have tallied 73 reported hate crimes and hate incidents against the Jewish community and 25 against the Arab-Muslim community. In comparison, in 2022, Montreal police tallied 72 hate crimes and incidents against all groups for the entire year.

Legault told reporters on Tuesday that he thought Charkaoui's comments were an incitement to violence.

"It's the incitement to hate and violence," Legault said. "I'm counting on the police to do their job." 

Montreal police said in a statement that they would not confirm if they were investigating Charkaoui.

In a response on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Charkaoui accused the premier of defaming him. 

His prayer did not mention Jews, nor did it incite violence, he said.

Charkaoui was arrested in 2003 and alleged to have undergone training in a camp in Afghanistan. He was never formally charged. 

Québec Solidaire MNA Haroun Bouazzi, who has urged the Legault government to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, described Charkaoui as a provocateur. 

"He's a pyromaniac in our society," Bouazzi said. "More broadly, on questions of Islamophobia, he's someone who sets more fires than anything else in this society. So, obviously, I have no sympathy for this character and what he says."

Anthony Housefather, the MP for Mount Royal, said Jewish Canadians are feeling scared, angry and frustrated right now. 

"There is something wrong in this country where a war in the Middle East has spread into Canada and is making Jewish Canadians feel this unsafe and it is not a minority feeling, this is the majority feeling right now," he said.