Activist and author Yves Engler was arrested on Thursday, February 20 at 9:30 a.m. by Montreal police, following posts on social media that criticized pro-Israel media personality Dahlia Kurtz. A Montreal-based law firm filed a complaint on behalf of Kurtz after Engler called her a “genocide supporter” and “fascist” on X/Twitter.
Engler strongly refuted the harassment charges. "She's accusing me of harassment, but it's her harassing me is the reality of it," he said.
Engler emphasized that he has never met Kurtz nor ever communicated directly with her. He added, "I don’t even follow her on X [formerly Twitter]."
Through his journalistic and activist work, Engler has been vocally critical of the state of Israel for many years. He believes his arrest is politically motivated:
"This is, I think, a pretty flagrant abuse of the state authority on behalf of those promoting Israel's crimes. This is obviously an attack against freedom of expression, but really, what it is is a use of the policing and legal system to target someone that opposes the Canadian government's complicity in a genocidal rampage by Israel."
Engler sees his arrest as part of a larger pattern of repression of pro-Palestine activists in Canada:
"People who are alleged to have put up posters on an Indigo bookstore, they get their houses raided at 6:00 in the morning, knocking down doors and taking all their stuff. I mean, that's a totally extreme abuse of police authority. We've seen what happened to Charlotte Kates in Vancouver, police raiding her home."
He added, "Obviously, the whole terrorist listing that's happened with Samidoun, which is another outrage, and probably the most extreme example of the state using its authority to target those opposing its complicity in Israel's crimes."
The charges against Engler initially stemmed from the harassment complaint filed by Kurtz's lawyers, who work for the firm Spiegel Ryan. After Engler wrote about the allegations publicly, Montreal police added four more charges, including intimidation, harassment, and interference with a police officer.
In less than 24 hours, over 2,500 people had emailed Montreal police urging them to drop the charges. Engler suspects that this public support prompted the additional charges against him.
Engler pointed out that Neil Oberman, the federal Conservative candidate for the riding of Mont-Royal, is a partner at Spiegel Ryan. Oberman recently represented McGill students who filed an injunction request against the pro-Palestine encampment organized by students on the campus.
Engler is currently detained at an SPVM Operations Centre on Guy Street.