‘Nothing short of Kafkaesque’: Netizens react to arrest of pro-Palestine activist in Canada

Social media users, including prominent journalists and activists, have lashed out at the Canadian authorities for arresting Yves Engler, a Montreal-based activist and author.

Engler, a long-time anti-war activist, was arrested by police in Montreal on Thursday for his fierce criticism of the Israeli regime and its genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

His arrest came after a notorious Zionist figure in Montreal Dahlia Kurtz lodged a complaint against Engler over his pro-Palestine advocacy and criticism of Kurtz’s rabid anti-Palestinian rhetoric.

After police came to arrest him, he took to social media to assert that he had only responded to Kurtz's “racist, violent, anti-Palestinian posts” on X, rejecting her claim that he harassed her.

“I’ve never met Kurtz. Nor have I messaged or emailed her. Nor have I threatened her. I don’t even follow her on X (Twitter’s algorithm puts her posts in my feed),” he wrote.

He is currently spending the weekend in jail waiting for a bail hearing scheduled for Monday morning at the Quebec courthouse in Montreal, his friends and close aides informed.

Engler, who often appears on Press TV as a guest commentator, was set to be released late on Friday but he refused to be silenced on his pro-Palestine advocacy work, which judges set as a condition.

“Engler is being held at the Bordeaux jail in eastern Montreal. During today’s hearing he stated that jail staff had limited his ability to phone his lawyer and had refused to provide him with a pen and paper to take notes during his calls with council,” his father said in a statement after the hearing.

“He is in relatively good spirits considering the circumstances and insists on maintaining his freedom to speak publicly about these outrageous and politically motivated charges against him. He has asked supporters to pursue maximum visibility.”

Meanwhile, his arrest has been widely condemned with journalists and activists across the world calling it a brazen violation of freedom of speech and expression in Canada.

Canada-based lawyer and activist Faisal Kutty, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said Engler’s arrest is “nothing short of Kafkaesque and makes a mockery of free speech rights.”

“Canadian prosecutors refused to free Yves Engler  "unless he would agree not to speak publicly about the case including naming directly or indirectly the influencer who filed the complaint against him."

Tim McSorley, the Ontario-based national coordinator with The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, termed the activist’s arrest “outrageous” and said all charges against him “must be dropped.”

“The idea that his posting criticisms of Israel's genocide, and criticizing those who support it, should merit charges of "harassment and indecent communication" is bad enough,” he wrote in an X post.

“But to then charge him with "intimidation, harassment, harassing communication & 'entrave' (interference) towards a police officer" & threaten to hold him overnight so he doesn't "re-offend" is staggering.”

Margaret Kimberley, New York-based journalist and activist, said she supports him “100 percent.”

“Zionist forces are taking away our rights of freedom of speech. It shouldn't be easy for them.”

A Quebec-based activist Alexx Station, in a post on X, said numerous "anti-fascist" accounts on social media are “coordinating weaponized anti-semitism campaigns against Yves Engler.”

Canadian journalist James Clayton said the attack on Engler suggests that Canadians “need to understand that significant elements inside the Canadian state and ruling class are preparing a massive attack on our democratic rights.”

Press TV correspondent in Canada Camila said Engler is “spending another night locked up as a political prisoner at the Bordeaux jail in Montreal for the crime of tweeting against Zionism.”

She quoted him saying before his arrest that if Canadians had “a minimally-functioning political system, the police would be investigating all these [Israeli-Canadian] soldiers for war crimes."

Charlotte Kates, the international coordinator for Samidoun Network, also condemned Engler’s arrest in Canada, calling it “absolutely outrageous censorship.”

“Absolutely outrageous censorship being propagated by the Montreal Police Department doing the bidding of a racist on X. Full solidarity with @EnglerYves, who has always consistently and bravely spoken up against anti-Palestinian repression in Canada,” she wrote.

 Maureen Murphy, a senior editor at the Electronic Intifada website, also expressed solidarity with Engler, who she said has done “invaluable reporting on the Israel lobby in Canada for @intifada and other outlets over many years.”

 Brooklyn-based writer Mike Litwack said Kurtz is “a vocal genocide supporter and fascist.”

“Canadian police are now arresting Yves Engler, a writer and anti-genocide advocate, for calling Kurtz what she proudly is: a genocide supporter and a fascist,” he wrote.

In a press release following his arrest on Thursday, Engler’s family and friends said he had been arrested for social media posts criticizing Israel and to be jailed for writing about charges leveled against him.

“After Engler wrote about the dubious charges leveled against him for criticizing Israel, the police added four new charges claiming he was harassing the police. Engler was initially to be arrested after a complaint was submitted against him for harassment by racist media personality Dahlia Kurtz. Engler does not deny labeling Kurtz a “genocide” supporter and “fascist” on Twitter.”

In less than 24 hours, 2500 people have emailed the Montreal police calling on them to drop the charges against Engler, the press release stated. “Angry at receiving emails and significant public criticism the police are now claiming Engler has harassed them by writing about the charges leveled against him.”

In a separate statement, Engler’s father said the prosecutors refused to free him unless he would agree not to speak publicly about the case including naming directly or indirectly the influencer who filed the complaint against him.

“The (next) hearing will determine whether or not Yves will be freed pending trial and if he will be allowed to write in detail about what is happening to him including naming the complaint and the police officer who has accused him of harassment,” he said.

“He has no interest in naming the police officer but insists that he should be able to name the influencer who regularly publishes hateful anti-Palestinian content online.”

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