Protesters try to topple Queen Victoria statue near pro-Palestinian encampment

Montreal police (SPVM) were called late Monday night to intervene after protesters attempted to tear down the Queen Victoria statue at Victoria Square.

This comes days after demonstrators set up a pro-Palestinian encampment in the area, a first in a public space in Montreal.

According to Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant, officers patrolled the area and stopped the people trying to demolish the statue, but there were no attempts to dismantle the encampment.

The camp was set up at Victoria Square to demand the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) divest from companies organizers claim are “complicit in the Israeli occupation” in Gaza.

The group is also calling for Quebec’s Tel Aviv office to be shut down because “increasing trade relations and diplomatic cooperation with Israel legitimizes the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”

It is the latest encampment in Quebec; others have or had been set up at McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and Université de Sherbrooke.