Emotions high in Montreal between Israeli, Palestinian supporters, with some lashing out
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A Montreal woman was caught on camera this week insulting someone for flying a Palestinian flag from a car in the city.
Global News is protecting the identity of both women, but in the video from Tuesday the woman in the car can be heard telling another filming she should be sexually assaulted.
“You should be raped and dragged through the streets in front of your kids,” the woman is heard saying.
The video has since gone viral.
Asmaa El Mouden, a Muslim woman in Montreal who wears a head scarf, says she was saddened by the video.
“I got even more concerned and scared for myself, my family members, my friends, for other people,” she explained.
This is just one in a number of incidents of people lashing out against Muslims and Jews since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, say community groups.
According to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), Islamophobia, even on university campuses across the country, has surged.
“Doubled,” insisted NCCM Quebec Community engagement officer Yasser Lahlou. “It has actually doubled in the past few days, yes.”
El Mouden, a medical student at McGill University in Montreal, says she feels targeted these days, and points to an incident Tuesday when she and a friend sat next to other students who were discussing the conflict.
“One of the people who were sitting down next to us asked another one, ‘Do you sometimes feel threatened by Muslims in the cohort?'” she told Global News.
El Mouden says she confronted the student who apologized.
Jewish groups say they also have concerns about a rise in hate. In a tweet Wednesday, Air Canada confirmed that one of their pilots, who was photographed recently expressing
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