Netanyahu protestors smash windows, battle police in Montreal

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Tuesday, September 10, 2002 The Canadian Press FORMER ISRAELI PM'S SPEECH IN MONTREAL STOPPED BY 'PEACEFUL INFORMATION PICKET': Protesters at Concordia University smash a window in opposition to a scheduled speech by Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday. The Gazette

Concordia University is studying tapes of yesterday's protest and will take action, including expulsion, against students involved in the violence.: (Photo ran in all editions except Toronto.) MONTREAL - Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to abandon a speaking engagement at Concordia University after what organizers billed as "a peaceful information picket" broke into a riot at the downtown Montreal campus.

Concordia officials called off the event after some 200 Palestinian supporters smashed through the glass façade of the building where Mr. Netanyahu was scheduled to speak. The Montreal police riot squad responded with tear gas and pepper spray.

The protesters, many of them local activists who do not attend the university, crowded into the Henry F. Hall Building to toss chairs and newspaper boxes at police. At least five people were arrested, while hundreds more remained outside, closing off a downtown intersection. Classes were cancelled for the day.

"It's mad zealotry run amok," a tense Mr. Netanyahu told reporters at a hastily called news conference. "They're supporting Saddam Hussein, they're supporting Arafat, they're supporting bin Laden."

He admitted that he was not unpleased with the day's events.

Although 650 Concordia students were prevented from hearing his lecture on controlling international terrorism, the protesters' antics offered him a wider platform, Mr. Netanyahu said.

"I am glad that millions of citizens of Canada can see what this battle is about," said Mr. Netanyahu, who came to the university at the invitation of Concordia's Jewish student group.

The Asper Foundation, the State of Israel Bonds and the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are co-sponsors of his speaking tour.

"[Canadians] were given an opportunity to see first-hand the mad zealotry that endangers our world. That same mentality -- whose offshoot you see here --runs sovereign states, and those states are amassing weapons of mass destruction."

Mr. Netanyahu spent the day four blocks away from the melee at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, sitting at the bar with a dozen Israeli security agents, insisting he wanted to carry on with his speech.

Tensions at Concordia remained high throughout the afternoon as shouting matches broke out between Jewish and Arab onlookers.

"It was 1939 Europe all over again," said Thomas Hecht, 73, chairman of the Canada-Israel Committee's Quebec branch. About 25 protesters screaming "Palestinian checkpoint!" encircled Mr. Hecht, a Czechoslovakian-born Holocaust survivor, as he attempted to enter the Hall Building. Several protesters pushed him against a wall, spitting on him and kicking his ankles.

"This is a violation of all that Canadians value," a shaken Mr. Hecht said after he was guided to safety by another man and a group of journalists.

Police moved in with tear gas and pepper spray only after the windows were smashed. Earlier that morning, 24 riot police looked on as protesters spat on journalists and blocked them from entering the building. A demonstrator was permitted to chant slogans into a megaphone while perched atop a police van.

Ahmed, a 20-year-old Australian exchange student who would not give his last name, explained students had broken the windows "out of frustration with police brutality."

Protesters also grabbed Israeli flags and spat on a group of Jewish students who walked into the crowd singing Hebrew songs. "We were trying to show that peace is possible," said Dalia Lubell, as she pushed her way out of the angry crowd.

"Israeli provocation, as usual," said one protester, who refused to give his name.

David Battistuzzi, a Palestinian activist, said Mr. Netanyahu had no right to speak at Concordia.

"There's no free speech for hate speech," Mr. Battistuzzi, 24, a former Concordia student, said.

"This man said in 1989 Israel should have taken advantage of the Tiananmen Square massacre to expel the Palestinians from Israel. He's a violent man.... This man is a war criminal."

Local Jewish organizers blamed Montreal police for failing to secure a route through campus despite weeks of planning for the event. Rabbi Reuben Poupko said police had promised to close a side street to allow Mr. Netanyahu to pass. "That did not materialize," he said.

Others wondered why Concordia -- which has often been the scene of conflict between pro-Palestinian and Jewish students -- was chosen as the venue for Mr. Netanyahu's appearance.

The protest was called last week by a group calling itself the Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East, which distributed flyers on campus calling for a massive demonstration to prevent Mr. Netanyahu from speaking. One of the flyers invited protesters to "a peaceful information picket."

Gérald Tremblay, the Montreal Mayor, yesterday defended the actions of the police. Flanked by top-ranking officers at a City Hall news conference, he said it was impossible to allow the speech to go ahead during a violent demonstration.

"The RCMP decided that the security of the former prime minister was in jeopardy," Mr. Tremblay said.

Concordia's rector, Frederick Lowy, said the university is studying tapes of the event with police and will take action, including expulsion, against students found to have been involved in the violence.

Until a university policy is developed, he instituted an immediate moratorium on public events dealing with the Middle East.

"Rational discourse is the very stuff of the university -- even heated argument -- provided there's no incitement or violence," Mr. Lowy said. "For us, this was a shameful event today."

Mr. Netanyahu, the Likud prime minister from 1996 to 1999, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state and advocates an even tougher stance against Palestinian violence than Ariel Sharon, the current Israeli Prime Minister.

Mr. Netanyahu will meet today with Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, and will speak in Toronto and Winnipeg. Mr. Netanyahu is to address the U.S. Congress on the subject of terrorism on Sept. 12.



-- Anonymous, September 11, 2002


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