Prominent Canadian activist and author arrested for pro-Palestinian activism

Canadian author and activist Yves Engler was arrested by police in Montreal, Canada, on Thursday. He is accused of criticizing Israel and faces a harassment complaint from a pro-Israel individual. Engler has been a long-time critic of Israel and Canada's military establishment, spanning over two decades.

Montreal police contacted Engler, informing him that he would be arrested due to a complaint from Zionist influencer Dahlia Kurtz. Subsequently, Engler publicly disclosed the matter on social media. He admitted to responding to Kurtz's "racist, violent, anti-Palestinian posts" on the X platform but denied harassing her.

Engler stated, "I have never met Kurtz, nor have I sent her messages or emails, let alone threatened her. I don't even follow her on X (Twitter's algorithm pushes her posts to me)." After news of Engler's arrest broke, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute launched a campaign, and as of press time, nearly 3200 people had written to Montreal police demanding that the charges against Engler be dropped.

Engler claims that this incident has led to further disciplinary charges against him. In another post, he wrote that police contacted him with more charges for "harassing [them] because I wrote about the charges against me" and demanded that he not talk about his case. The father of two was detained at 9:30 a.m. local time and appeared in court on Thursday afternoon. He will spend the night in jail, and a bail hearing is scheduled for Friday.

Quebec Green Party leader Alex Tyrrell accompanied Engler to the police station on Thursday and spoke to Middle East Eye about Engler's arrest. "I think it's a shocking attack on freedom of speech, democratic rights, and the ability to criticize Israel in Canada, which is supposed to be a free and democratic society. We should be speaking out against genocide," Tyrrell stated.

Tyrrell believes that Engler is one of the most outspoken individuals in Canada on the Israel-Palestine issue, and Kurtz's accusations formed the basis for his arrest. Tyrrell also expressed concern about Engler being forced to leave his advocacy work and having to use his personal and professional time to defend himself. He stated that he has known Engler for over a decade, recognizing him through his criticism of Israel and his collaboration with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Both have appeared on each other's podcasts, and Tyrrell said he would see Engler at protests.

Tyrrell stated, "Yves is a very strong personality and is used to confronting some of the most important figures in the country. He is in good spirits and is up for the challenge, intending to publicize his case." Engler has authored 12 books, primarily focusing on Canada's foreign policy in Haiti, Africa, and Israel. As of press time, Montreal police and the law firm representing Kurtz have not responded to Middle East Eye's requests for comment.

Activists say there is a systemic culture in Canada of suppressing the pro-Palestine movement. Politicians and police have both played a role in cracking down on pro-Palestine activism. For example, Calgary police arrested protest organizer and Palestinian-Canadian activist Wesam Khaled in November 2023, accusing him of disturbing the peace for using the slogan "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Jeff Halper stated that close ties between Canadian police and Israel, as well as Israeli military research, have led to the suppression of civil rights in the country. A decade ago, the Israeli-American anthropologist stated during a talk at Concordia University in Montreal, "Israel is involved in your prison system, involved in the training of the RCMP, involved in your airport security." Healthcare professionals in Canada have also faced backlash for voicing their opinions.

In December 2023, Yipeng Ge, a resident physician at the University of Ottawa, faced criticism and was suspended from his residency program for posting pro-Palestine content on social media. He resigned from the Canadian Medical Association's board, citing "bullying, harassment, and intimidation."