Housefather has denounced the posters as “plain antisemitism” and says he is saddened to see them in his own city.
The Montreal police say they are aware of posters with Nazi imagery targeting Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and have transferred the file to the department’s hate crimes and incidents unit.
“We invite anyone who is a victim or witness of an incident or hate crime to report it to their neighbourhood police station or call 911 in case of emergency,” wrote spokesperson Caroline Labelle.
The posters display the flag of Nazi Germany, as well as an Israeli flag with the star of David replaced by a swastika, and equate Zionism to terrorism.
Housefather, who represents the federal riding of Mount Royal, denounced the posters as “plain antisemitism” this week and said he was saddened to see them plastered in his own city.
“This is intended to stigmatize, to target and to make you afraid to say what you want to say,” he told The Gazette.
Housefather believes the posters were mainly erected around the Mile End and Outremont neighbourhoods.
“This sign has been sent to me before, but it was only one picture and seemed isolated,” he explained. “(This week) I started getting multiple, so that’s when I realized this wasn’t a one-off. There’s actually somebody making these signs and putting them up all over the place.”
The posters have been widely denounced by politicians from different levels of government since Housefather posted about them on social media Tuesday.
“It’s antisemitic, and it’s disgusting,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote to Housefather on X (formerly Twitter).
“Jewish Canadians indeed helped build this country and will always have a home here,” Trudeau added. “We stand with you, and the entire community, against this hate.”
Rachel Bendayan, the Liberal MP who represents the Outremont riding where the posters were erected, also noted on Wednesday that her team had been alerted about the signs and confirmed they were taken down.
At this week’s borough council meeting, Côte-des-Neiges — Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa was asked to comment on the posters given her role as the city’s executive committee member responsible for the fight against racism and systemic discrimination.
“It’s really terrible that this was done to our colleague,” Kasoki Katahwa said.
“We will absolutely not tolerate any form of hate, whether it’s antisemitism, racism, Islamophobia — it’s something that we need everyone to denounce with a lot of force,” Kasoki Katahwa added.
She ended with a plea for anyone who witnesses anything they deem to be hateful to report the incident to police.
“Because the (Montreal police) are following up on all of those calls to make sure we keep the city safe.”