Effigy in a noose wearing a kippah featured at ‘anti-Israel’ Canada rally

Canada’s most prominent Jewish advocacy organisation has condemned the display of effigies with nooses around their necks, including one wearing a white kippah, describing it as evoking “some of the darkest antisemitic imagery in history”.

Footage of a march organised by “Montreal for Palestine” captured over the weekend showed the effigies displayed, believed to represent Trump, Netanyahu and Ben Gvir – the latter depicted with a large kippah.

CIJA, Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish affairs, responded by saying: “Let us be clear: this is not a debate about the Middle East. Hanging effigies of Jews in the streets of Montreal evokes some of the darkest antisemitic imagery in history and is completely unacceptable.

This is not ‘peaceful activism.’ It is the promotion of hatred and the incitement of violence that fuels the radicalisation of our social climate. What will it take for authorities to treat these acts as the serious threat they are?”

Previous footage of “Montreal for Palestine” rallies has shown participants lauding Hamas.

Commenting on the footage, Liberal Jewish MP Anthony Housefather said: “Hanging an image of a Jew with a kippah in effigy is disgusting, antisemitic and clear incitement to hatred. I appreciate that Leslie Roberts, the city councillor for the downtown district has reached out to the Montreal police on this & I have done the same.”

As in a number of other Western countries, antisemitism in Canada has soared over the last few years. A recent report by Bnai Brith Canada showed that last year the Jewish community faced 6,800 separate antisemitic incidents; the highest since records began. Richard Robertson, the group’s director of research and advocacy, said that such antisemitism “is a national crisis and must be treated as such.

“In 2025, the systemic nature of the crisis of antisemitism in Canada became even clearer”, he continued.

“Anti-Jewish hate, though largely propagated by a virulent and vitriolic subset of our society, metastasized throughout all aspects of Canadian life. Our streets, schools, academic institutions, workplaces, and online platforms were increasingly compromised by nefarious actors who wished to spread and incite hate against the Jewish community.