Canada's Trudeau condemns violent protests as NATO meets in Montreal

By Nia Williams

(Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday condemned violence and antisemitism at anti-NATO and pro-Palestinian protests in downtown Montreal on Friday night, where NATO delegates have gathered for the alliance's annual assembly.

Around 300 delegates from NATO members and partner states are meeting in Montreal from Nov. 22-25. 

Local media reported that protesters burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and lit smoke bombs.

Two separate protest groups merged into a march, and some protesters started throwing smoke bombs and metal objects at officers policing the demonstration, Montreal police said.

Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd and three people were arrested for assaulting officers and obstructing police work. Protesters set two cars on fire and smashed windows as the march was dispersed around 7 pm ET, police said.

Videos and pictures posted to social media showed masked rioters burning flares and battering storefront windows. 

"What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling. Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them," Trudeau said in a post on social media website X.

Pro-Palestinian protests have been taking place across Canada since the Israel-Gaza war started late last year.

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, according to Gaza officials.

The war was launched in response to an attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has said.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by David Gregorio and Chizu Nomiyama )