Montreal Elects Hezbollah Guy to National Assembly, Now Can't Shop In Peace (UPDATED)

I have been avoiding posting disturbing news right before Christmas, but shopping stories belong in their season. So here goes:

If you are a woman buying a pair of shoes in Montreal, Quebec, and those shoes do not meet the approval of a group of Muslim men, then you can expect to be threatened, photographed, and called a "Jewish sow," with the express approval and support of a member of Quebec's National Assembly. The merchant who sells you the shoes gets threatened with death.

And this harassment happens, not under the Canadian flag emblazoned with a leaf of the sturdy maple tree; or under the flag of Quebec, a white fleurs-de-lis on a blue field honoring the Virgin Mary; but instead under flags of the Shi'a Muslim "military" organization, Hezbollah.

Canadian politician Amir Khadir led harassment of shoe store customers (Montreal Gazette).

Below is a first hand account of attempting to buy a pair of shoes at Le Marcheur in Montreal [yesterday 12/18/10] by a reader of Vlad:

My mother just came back from purchasing Israeli-made shoes from the store in down town Montreal that is being subjected to a boycott because it sells Israeli-made shoes. Twenty people showed up to buy shoes after Eric Duhaime called on Montrealers to show solidarity with the embattled store owner. She, with others, was greeted by about a hundred threatening Arabs with Hezbollah flags shouting anti-Semitic slogans and blocking the street completely. She says that several intimidating Arabs took her picture as she was going inside and one was even filming. One young Arab called her a Jewish sow. The store owner is getting death threats and is seriously depressed. He said that he won’t give in to these terrorists’ demands. But how long can he keep it up before going out of business? Montreal in 2010.

Le Marcheur on a better day

Yes, the owner of Le Marcheur, in addition to carrying such brands as Rockport, Mephisto, Clarks, Santana, etc., also carries an Israeli line of shoes known as Beautifeel. 

From the Montreal Gazette via Vlad Tepes:

Yves Archambault, owner of Le Marcheur, said he was “sickened” to learn his own MNA [Member of the National Assembly] was picketing his store.

“I was sickened to see him distributing flyers and stopping people who were coming into the store to tell them they shouldn’t support a business that sells Israeli products,” Archambault said.

“In Quebec we have free enterprise, and as long as it is legal, nobody has the right to tell me what I can and cannot sell in my store,” he said.

Archambault said he is “completely apolitical” and does not follow politics here or abroad. He admits he had no idea who Khadir was, until some of his employees told him.

Lesson #1: These are not good days to be "completely apolitical." Keeping one's head buried in the sand is an ineffective survival technique.

He said he feels personally attacked by the picketers, and Khadir’s participation has made it worse.

Khadir emailed Archambault a few weeks before participating in the picket to ask him to stop selling Israeli-made products, and to explain the PAJU’s reasons for demanding a boycott of Israeli-made products and stores that sell them.

Archambault said he did not respond, because he is not interested in talking about politics.

“I don’t care where my products come from. I only care about comfort and quality,” he said.

But Khadir said business owners need to be made aware of their own power to make change. He says his party supports business but wants to get away from the “Walmart economy” and move toward fair and responsible commerce [emphasis mine].

Khadir and his fellow Hezbollah types don't seem to me to be too anxious for Mr. Archambault to exercise his own power.

“Gandhi said: ‘Business without conscience is a crime,’ and buying and selling is voting,” Khadir said.

Right, Khadir. If you don't like the way some people are voting, then threaten and bully them until they "vote" your way. That's the essence of "democracy" in Quebec these days.

Pay attention, America.


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UPDATE: Just found this at blazingcatfur: "Oh cripes he's a Jew Baiting 9/11 Troofer from Iran."
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