@pathlessknown I don’t think there’s anywhere in Toronto as bad as east Hastings. There’s some rough areas but east Hastings is like a few kilometers of open drug use
On Monday, Montreal city council votes on a motion to cut the city's ties with Israel. I am speaking up because this motion is dangerous for Montreal, and my reason has nothing to do with which side of that war you are on.
My family arrived in Montreal in 1956 as refugees. This city gave us safety, dignity and the chance to build. That promise has drawn generations of immigrants here from every corner of the world.
I am not going to debate a war on the other side of the world, and that is exactly the point. A municipal government has no jurisdiction over foreign policy. Cities do not end wars.
But a motion like this lands right here at home. Jewish Montrealers are less than one percent of this city and the number one target of hate crimes. Those are police statistics, not opinions. Our synagogues and schools have been targeted, and families I know are scared in a way I have never seen.
When city hall singles out one community's connection to a foreign conflict, it brings no peace anywhere. It brings fear here.
Montreal has real emergencies. Housing. Homelessness. Infrastructure. That is the job.
This city has been a safe haven for my family and so many others, and it must remain one for everyone. @SorayaMartinezF showed real leadership in June. Council should reject this motion on Monday.