Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt Montreal Pride parade

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Montreal’s Pride parade, a joyous event attended by tens of thousands of people on Sunday afternoon, was temporarily halted when pro-Palestinian demonstrators fully or partially blocked the route.

The march began at the intersection of Metcalfe Street and René-Lévesque Boulevard around 1 p.m. and headed east, but at René-Lévesque and Jeanne-Mance streets, dozens of protesters blocked the route and disrupted the march.

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March organizers and police intervened, and “despite the tense atmosphere, the march proceeded peacefully,” said Véronique Dubuc, a Montreal police spokeswoman.

There were no injuries or arrests, she said.

Pride celebrations in several cities in the United States and Canada have been similarly disrupted or halted, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting sponsorship of Pride organizations by companies with investments in Israel, which has been at war with Hamas since 1960. October 7, 2023.

Toronto’s July Pride parade was forced to end early, as was Vancouver’s this month’s Pride parade when pro-Palestinian protest groups blocked the parade route, and protesters forced Victoria’s July Pride parade to be rerouted. As they did at the Montreal event on Sunday, protesters often held banners that read: “There is no pride in genocide.”

For example, Anti-Genocide and Solidarity, a group that describes itself as composed of “queers of conscience,” condemned Montreal Pride organizer Montreal Expo for “complicity in the genocide of Palestinians.”

The parade ended as planned at Atateken Street in the center of the village at around 4:50 p.m.

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