A Jewish organization is calling on Montreal’s commissioner on racism and systemic discrimination to resign, denouncing what it describes as her “inexcusable and disqualifying behaviour” in recent weeks.
Bochra Manaï’s “silence and inaction after a historic week of antisemitic terrorism in Montreal is shocking,” Eta Yudin, the Quebec vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said in a statement Tuesday.
“Ms. Manaï’s response to the Molotov cocktails tossed at Jewish institutions: silence. Her response to the bullets fired at Jewish schools: silence again.”
Eta Yudin, Vice President of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA)The incidents have sent shockwaves through the Jewish community and have been denounced by many Quebec politicians.
The CIJA said that instead of speaking out about the attacks, Manaï “chose to share content on social networks from groups that celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre committed by Hamas, including a group that celebrated with candy at a rally immediately after the massacre.”
Yudin added: “We are at a crucial moment in Montreal’s history. The Jewish community is under attack. Quebecers of all origins are right to unite and demand an anti-racism commissioner who respects our collective principles and exercises sound judgment.”
B’nai Brith Canada, another Jewish organization, called Manaï’s attitude “outrageous and unacceptable.” The group called on her to “bear the authority of her office to help combat the contemptible events in Montreal over the past week.”
Manaï has taken part in at least one pro-Palestinian protest in Montreal, Le Devoir reported Tuesday.
Screenshots shared on social media by others indicate Manaï has been posting regularly about the Israel-Hamas war on her Instagram account, which is locked.
After facing criticism for her public silence last week, Manaï publicly posted about the situation on LinkedIn on Sunday.
“We are all extremely worried about the increase in incidents and hate crimes, Islamophobic and antisemitic, which are exacerbated by the daily atrocity seen over more than 30 days in Palestine and Israel,” she wrote.
On Tuesday evening, in response to calls for her resignation, the city’s public relations department sent a statement by Manaï to the Montreal Gazette.
In it, she defended herself but did not respond directly to calls for her to quit or to criticism of her social media posts.
“As some have noticed on my social networks, I recently took part in demonstrations in Montreal in support of a request for a ceasefire,” Manaï wrote.
She said she had a duty to do so as “a woman committed to peace, saddened by the horror of this situation.”
Manaï said she is “deeply concerned” about the “rise in incidents and hate crimes” in Montreal.
“The Islamophobic and antisemitic acts and behaviours that have been committed in recent weeks in Montreal are all unacceptable and the violence must be strongly condemned,” she said. “Targeting Jewish schools and children with bullets is a crime that must be punished and has no place in a metropolis like Montreal. The same goes for the targeting of Muslim places of worship.”
She added: “My role at the city of Montreal, as a civil servant, concerns internal change and I do not have a role of public representation. I was appointed to work with the entire municipal apparatus to accelerate the transformation to an administration free of racism and systemic discrimination.”
She said she is “always ready to meet all organizations and hear all voices. I am also committed to meeting representatives of the Arab-Muslim and Jewish communities.”
Earlier Tuesday, a spokesperson for Plante referred questions about the calls for her resignation to the city’s public relations department.
Aref Salem, interim leader of Ensemble Montréal, the opposition party at city hall, also called out Manaï on Tuesday, questioning whether she should remain in the job.
“The position of commissioner calls for (someone who can) bring together and consult Montreal communities, not to divide them,” Salem said.
“After Ms. Manaï’s recent public positions, the administration must ask itself the question of whether (Manaï) still has the legitimacy and moral authority to occupy this position.”
Salem also said that after more than two years in office, she has “failed to propose a reliable action plan to combat systemic racism.”
When she appointed Manaï in January 2021, Mayor Valérie Plante said she was confident Manaï would help “accelerate the transformation to a more fair and inclusive city that represents its diversity.”
Plante’s decision to hire her for the newly created, $126,000-a-year post was controversial.
Premier François Legault’s office called the appointment “a mistake,” given “her stance on past issues.”
Manaï had previously spoken out against Bill 21, the Legault government law under which some public employees are forbidden from wearing religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab and the Jewish kippah while on the job. As a spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Manaï complained the law creates second-class citizens and legitimizes inequality.
When she was appointed, Balarama Holness, whose group Montréal en Action spurred a report that resulted in the creation of the post, said Manaï’s hiring was a missed opportunity and a sign of “anti-Blackness” by Plante’s Projet Montréal party, since Manaï isn’t from the Black community.
At the time, Manaï said she understood the criticism: “I can’t speak for the Black population. I don’t have the experience of a Black woman, but as a racialized person, I can only be in solidarity with the experience of the Black community, both anglophone and francophone.”
