The Montreal Anti-Apartheid Pledge is a citizen-led campaign, backed by a multitude of civil society groups, to pressure those running in the Montreal municipal elections that took place on Nov. 2 to sign a set of six demands with the aim of ending Montreal’s complicity in Israeli apartheid against Palestinians.
Specifically, the pledge demands the city cut institutional ties with the Israeli government, divest from municipal contracts that are tied to Israel, and boycott Israeli sports teams, academic institutions, and cultural representatives. It also requests that the city of Montreal welcome more Palestinian refugees, that it demands a bilateral arms embargo from the federal government, and that it supports family reunification through expansion of the Temporary Resident Visa Program.
In the end, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the winner of the Montreal mayoral election, was the only one of the three main mayoral candidates running who did not sign the pledge. In spite of this, the Montreal Anti-Apartheid Pledge campaign claimed victory on Instagram, stating, “We succeeded in making Gaza a central issue in this election.” Montreal’s new City Hall reflects this, with almost a third of seats now occupied by individuals who adopted the pledge.
In an interview with The Tribune, Rama Al Malah, U3 Sciences, who is part of the Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal and was involved with the Anti-Apartheid Pledge campaign, drew a connection between the student movement and municipal politics.
“Over the past two years, the student movement has positioned itself as an extension […] of the wider Palestinian movement,” she said. “We understand that the entire movement is united under a larger banner of isolating Zionism and cutting ties with Israel, whether it be through city investments or contracts, a bilateral arms embargo, or, as the students have been demanding, divestment.”
A representative from McGill’s chapter of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), a grassroots, anti-Zionist, Jewish organization, stated in an interview with The Tribune, “IJV McGill stands behind [the Anti-Apartheid Pledge] in municipal politics […] as much as national or international politics.”
“We condemn the use of claims of antisemitism as a tool to suppress pro-Palestine activism [on campus], or against politicians who are trying to have Quebec or Montreal divest,” they said.
In an interview with The Tribune, a student at Concordia University, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that their participation in pro-Palestine protests in Montreal taught them about Quebec institutions’ complicity in the genocide, motivating them to get involved in the Anti-Apartheid Pledge campaign.
“I attended the Palestinian Youth Movement demonstration at the General Dynamics plant in Repentigny, where bullets were being shipped to the IDF [….] I protested the Israel Premier Tech cycling team at the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Montréal,” they shared in an interview with The Tribune. “Those moments clarified just how directly Montreal, Quebec, and Canada more broadly are complicit in the ongoing genocide.”
The student felt a responsibility to act on these connections between Israel and Montreal, and said that one of the most direct ways of doing so was by making Palestine a visible issue in this election. They emphasized that their position as a student was particularly important as part of a significant voter base that could possibly mobilize in the province, as only 21 per cent of youth voted in the last municipal election in Montreal.
“Our goal for the student strategy was getting them out to vote, because they could easily swing an election,” they said. “Soraya won by just over 30,000 votes, while the student strikes in October had over 80,000 students on strike. Part of our leverage in the campaign was transferring that momentum into municipal election votes.”
