On October 11, only four days after Hamas, the Gaza-based Islamic terrorist group, invaded southern Israel in a campaign of torture, rape and murder of 1,200 innocent Israeli men, women and children, in what was the largest massacre of Jews since the end of the Holocaust, a collection of pro-Palestinian organizations in Montreal released a statement on the conflict.

The statement, which was signed by a number of organizations, including Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill, not only did not condemn Hamas for its heinous mass murder of innocent Israelis, but instead defended the so-called right of Palestinian terrorists to massacre Israeli civilians.

The statement defended “the Palestinian people and their right to liberation,” adding that “we emphasize that a population living under siege and occupation has no option but to resist.”

The statement also made reference to the “illegal occupation of Palestine since 1948,” a reference to Israel’s independence 75 years ago, which was unambiguously delegitimizing Israel’s right to exist.

Less than two months later, it seems that the group has managed to rebrand itself as the victim, with significant success.

In his November 30 article in the Montreal Gazette entitled: “McGill Pro-Palestinian group says it feels alienated on campus, vows to continue advocacy,” Jesse Feith, a general assignment reporter at the newspaper, told the story of the anti-Israel group, but rather than shining a light on its apologism for Islamic terrorism, positioned the student group as a victim of Jewish students.

Feith reported that SPHR McGill “says its members are increasingly alienated on campus,” and quoted one member of the group as saying their members feel “very, very alienated and we feel we don’t have any support.”

Another student quoted by Feith told the newspaper that the terrorism-justifying statement posted in early October “was looking to the prospect of liberation, which is something that we have been denied for 75 years.”

Feith did not tell readers that 75 years ago refers to Israel’s independence in 1948, clearly indicating that the quoted individual, who was granted anonymity by Feith, was effectively calling for the destruction of Israel.

Absurdly, Feith then quoted the same student as arguing that “Students have a right to political expression” and that “many groups have expressed their opinions on different things and have never been targeted (this way).”

It does not require an advanced knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to recognize that only four days after the largest massacre of Jews in decades, to defend the Palestinians’ right to “resist,” is a thinly-veiled (or not veiled at all) defence of Palestinian terrorism.

Nowhere in the sympathetic article did Feith ever quote a Jewish student or organization, instead largely relying on the testimony of a group that has excused Palestinian terrorism to portray itself as a victim.

Nor did Feith ever tell readers about the spiking levels of antisemitic attacks, including two shootings and Molotov cocktails thrown at Jewish establishments in Montreal and an anti-Israel demonstration that nearly became violent at Concordia University, and which featured a Université de Montréal suspends lecturer call on Jews to “go back to Poland.”

These attacks have jumped dramatically since October 7, as they have done during every time of increased tensions in the Middle East, showing that anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric clearly creates real-world attacks on Jews in the West.

While members of SPHR McGill can attempt to rehabilitate their image, it is inexcusable that Feith and the Montreal Gazette gave them such an opportunity to rewrite history and reframe their student group, not as one which defends and advocates for Palestinian terrorism, but one which is a hapless victim.