From Sidon to Montreal: City Hall Should Focus on Montreal
Shavua tov ✡️
First, a small and very important Shavua Tov appreciation for Ashley Steinwald and that beautiful hair of hers. Hashem girly, may God continue to bless those curls.
Ashley was offline for Shabbat , as she should be. But as Shabbat ended, she brought an important message back to the internet.
And I think the heart of what she said deserves attention.
Tomorrow, August 24 , Montreal City Council is scheduled to debate a motion introduced by Projet Montréal concerning Israel and Palestine. Among other things, the motion calls for Montreal to suspend institutional ties with the Israeli government, Israeli institutions and Israeli municipalities.
Ashloush Steinwaldoush
Ashley’s Message Was Simple
Tomorrow’s City Council vote is really important, and we should not simply assume somebody else will pay attention.
But there is another part of her message that matters just as much.
What is Montreal City Council actually supposed to be doing?
I Say This as Someone From Sidon, الجنوب
I come to this discussion with a very different background from many Montrealers.
I am from Sidon.
I grew up with the Middle East around me. I know what happens when international conflicts, religion, identity and local politics become impossible to separate.
Lebanon has lived through enough of that.
That is precisely why, when I look at Montreal, I do not want to see the same mentality reproduced here.
I did not come to Canada hoping that every conflict from the Middle East would eventually find another political battlefield inside Montreal City Hall.
That is not progress.
Montreal should learn from places like Lebanon, not repeat our mistakes.
Ashley’s Point Is Bigger Than Israel and Palestine
Ashley is not saying that people cannot care about Palestinians.
She is not saying people cannot criticize Israel.
She is asking why municipal councillors are spending their political energy inserting themselves into an extraordinarily complicated international conflict.
That distinction is important.
Montreal has problems that are unquestionably within municipal jurisdiction.
Housing.
Homelessness.
Roads.
Public transportation.
Public safety.
Infrastructure.
Cleanliness.
Local businesses.
The cost and quality of everyday life in this city.
These are issues Montrealers expect their councillors to understand deeply because these are the issues they were elected to address.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is something entirely different.
It involves decades of history, international law, diplomacy, security, terrorism, war, competing national movements and decisions made by governments thousands of kilometres away.
That is not a municipal file.
Montreal City Hall Is Not a Foreign Ministry 🏛️
Supporters of the motion argue that Montreal should use its institutional relationships to express solidarity with Palestinians and defend human rights.
The motion itself also condemns antisemitism and Islamophobia and says Jewish and Israeli Montrealers should not be held responsible for the actions of Israel's government.
People are free to support that position.
But councillors also have to ask what precedent they are creating.
If Montreal City Council begins determining which foreign governments and foreign municipalities satisfy its political standards, where does that responsibility end?
Which conflict comes next?
Which country comes next?
Which community in Montreal will then be expected to answer for something happening somewhere else?
That is where the concern becomes bigger than Israel and Palestine.
Drew Sylver Raised an Important Point
As Drew Sylver put it in his comment:
“It’s an ideological litmus test used to bully you into submission. Same logic they use will be applied to Quebec and Canada. Great video.”
The Real Honorable Drew Sylver
There is a subtle but important point there.
A political standard introduced today because people strongly agree with its objective can become a completely different political standard tomorrow.
Maybe today you agree with the target.
What happens when the political majority changes?
What happens when another country becomes the target?
Institutions should be careful about the powers and precedents they establish when emotions are high.
And This Is Where My Sidonian Perspective Matters 🇱🇧
People sometimes expect that because I come from Sidon, because I am Lebanese, or because I grew up surrounded by the politics of this conflict, I must automatically approach this issue in one predetermined way.
I don't.
If anything, my experience makes me more cautious.
I have seen what happens when international conflicts begin consuming domestic politics.
I have seen what happens when communities stop seeing one another as neighbours and begin seeing one another primarily through foreign political identities.
Lebanon has suffered from that mentality for generations.
Canada should not import it.
Montreal certainly should not institutionalize it.
A Jewish Montrealer should not be treated as a representative of the Israeli government.
A Palestinian Montrealer should not be treated as a representative of Palestinian political organizations.
A Lebanese Montrealer should not be reduced to Lebanon's wars.
A Muslim Montrealer should not be treated as a representative of every Muslim-majority government or movement on earth.
People living together in Montreal should first be neighbours and citizens.
That principle matters enormously to me precisely because of where I come from.
Ashley’s Point Is Actually Very Simple
This conversation does not need to become an argument about every protest, every religion or every controversy Montreal has seen.
Ashley's point is much simpler.
City councillors have a job.
They were elected to make Montreal better.
And tomorrow, Montrealers have every right to ask whether this motion actually makes Montreal better.
Ask the Local Question
Forget the slogans for a moment.
Forget which side of the Middle East conflict you identify with.
Ask one question:
What does this do for Montreal?
Does it make housing more affordable?
Does it help people sleeping on Montreal streets?
Does it improve public transportation?
Does it repair infrastructure?
Does it make Jewish Montrealers feel safer?
Does it make Muslim Montrealers feel safer?
Does it improve relations between communities?
Does it solve anything happening in Gaza or Israel?
Those are legitimate questions.
And asking them does not mean someone lacks compassion for civilians suffering abroad.
It means understanding that governments have different responsibilities.
Ottawa conducts Canadian foreign policy.
Quebec governs provincial affairs.
Montreal City Hall governs Montreal.
Those lines exist for a reason.
Tomorrow Matters ✡️
Tomorrow's vote is therefore about more than one motion.
It raises a basic question about what Montrealers expect from municipal government.
Ashley is right about one thing in particular:
People should pay attention.
Read what is being proposed.
Listen to the arguments.
Understand what your municipal representatives are voting on.
And above all, do not allow complicated political language to distract from the simplest question of all:
Were Montreal councillors elected to govern Montreal, or to conduct foreign policy?
As someone from Sidon, I know what it looks like when the politics of the Middle East consume institutions that were supposed to be focused on people's everyday lives.
I don't want that lesson repeated here.
We should be capable of caring about people suffering abroad while protecting coexistence at home.
We should be capable of opposing antisemitism and Islamophobia simultaneously.
We should be capable of disagreeing about Israel and Palestine without turning every Montreal institution into another battlefield.
And we should be capable of reminding our municipal councillors of something very simple:
You were elected to govern Montreal.
Montreal deserves a City Hall focused on Montreal. ✡️