Hundreds gather for Israel's Independence Day celebration at Montreal park
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Hundreds of people waving Israeli flags gathered at Macdonald Park in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough Thursday to celebrate Israel's 77th Independence Day.
The Independence Day rally, known as Yom Ha'atzmaut, is normally held downtown, but event spokesperson Anthony Koch said it was moved to the park for security reasons.
'In the last few years, things have gotten a little bit heated,' Koch said, referring to rising global tensions following the Hamas attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023, and subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza. 'The cops wanted to make sure that, unlike in past years, they could reasonably ... limit safety concerns.'
By 10 a.m., more than a dozen counter-protesters — mostly Hasidic Jewish men — had gathered across the park, waving Palestinian flags. One shouted through a megaphone, 'Shame on you! You're not a Jew!'
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 11:07 AM.
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