Police say a 35-year-old woman was arrested on Sunday, August 10, after throwing a “container containing a liquid” at participants in the Montreal Pride/Fierté Montréal parade. The targets were members of two Jewish groups—Ga’ava and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA)—and the liquid reportedly smelled “like urine.”
The woman now faces criminal charges of “armed aggression.” The incident comes after weeks of controversy over the exclusion of a Jewish organisation from the parade on “pro-Palestinian” grounds. Ga’ava—a Jewish LGBTQ2+ group—was initially banned but later reinstated, leading to the resignation of Montreal Pride chairman Bernard Truong, officially for “personal reasons.” His successor, Marlot Marleau, has pledged to keep the event “true to its mission of amplifying the voices of 2SLGBTQIA+ [sic] communities,” though doubts remain over the welcome extended to Jewish groups.
Ga’ava had been accused of using its social media to label critics as “pro-terror” and “pro-Hamas,” challenging the dominant “Queers for Palestine” stance among activists. Organisers described this as “spreading hateful discourse.” The dispute appeared resolved when Ga’ava and CIJA were allowed back into the parade.
On the day, marchers with the Jewish contingents reported being struck with what they describe as “pee balloons.” Subsequently, a group calling itself Faction Against Genocide, in Solidarity said a member “sprayed” Ga’ava and CIJA participants “with nettle extrac—a non-harmful natural substance that stinks like hell.” They accused Pride Montreal/Fierté Montréal of “complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine” and accused Ga’ava and CIJA of “co-opting queer struggles” to support Israel.
Such tensions are widespread across ‘queer’ politics throughout the West, where squaring gay rights with the ‘omnicause’ of Palestine is posing some difficulties to activists. Prior to the 2025 Pride in London event, gay Jewish charity KeshetUK withdrew, citing the safety of its participants.
