Arrest made in assault on JDL leader at anti-BDS demo

Meir Weinstein
JDL national director Meir Weinstein

Police have arrested one individual in connection with an alleged assault on the Canadian leader of the Jewish Defence League (JDL) on Aug. 10 at a street demonstration in Montreal during the World Social Forum (WSF).

Const. Caroline Chevrefils confirmed to The CJN on Sept. 16 that the person had been charged earlier in the week with assaulting Meir Weinstein, JDL Canada national director, without a weapon.

By law, the name of an accused is not made public until charges are read in court, she said. The individual is scheduled to appear in Montreal Municipal Court in “the upcoming weeks,” Chevrefils said, but she could not provide a date.

Weinstein had led a small group of JDL supporters to Montreal to protest sessions at the WSF devoted to the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel and other content at the international gathering that the JDL considered anti-Semitic.

READ: JDL, PRO-BDS GROUP HURL INSULTS AT WSF DEMO

The JDL had scheduled a demonstration on the afternoon of Aug. 10 outside one of the venues of the WSF, the Cégep du Vieux Montréal on Ontario Street. But the police moved it three blocks further west to St. Laurent Boulevard and Ontario, where a block was cordoned off to traffic.

Weinstein told The CJN on Sept. 16 that about an hour before the demonstration was to begin, he and JDL supporters from Toronto arrived in a van on St. Laurent and began setting up.

Pro-BDS demonstrators had also begun to congregate on the scene.

Weinstein said that suddenly one woman from among the pro-BDS group “lunged” at a female JDL supporter, hitting her on the arm and knocking the flyers she was holding out of her hand.

“I intervened to try to get him away from her, so she would not be hurt, then someone [else] took a swing at me, punching me in the face,” he said.

“I made a split-second decision not to go after him and fight, because that would end our demonstration, so I called 911 and the police were there within 40 seconds.”

The individual ran away from Weinstein after striking him, but remained with the BDS protesters, and Weinstein pointed the individual out to police.

Weinstein said he did not previously know the individual, but JDL has since learned that the individual is active in BDS and Palestinian solidarity activities in Montreal, especially on university campuses.

The JDL has reposted a five-minute video on social media that was taken by the pro-BDS protesters of the confrontation between JDL and themselves that led to the arrest.

The narrow view captures both sides milling about, shouting at each other and then one individual moving in toward Weinstein.

“They were boasting: ‘See what we did to the JDL’,” said Weinstein. With the arrest, Weinstein said JDL is now “using it to do as much damage as we can to BDS in Quebec.”