The attention of spectators at Saturday night’s soccer match between the New England Revolution and CF Montreal turned to a totally different country as they chanted anti-Israel slogans.
According to reports, throughout the game, Montreal fans targeted the Revolution’s Israeli forward Dor Turgeman, with chants of “Death to Israel” and “Free Palestine. The Ashdod native responded to the calls in the best way he could: by scoring a humiliating goal against the Canadian team, raising New England’s lead to 2-0.
Immediately after the goal, Turgeman celebrated and addressed the hostile fans by lifting his arms and holding a hand to his ear. The fans responded by throwing projectiles on the field, and Montreal’s goalie, Sebastian Breza, even physically assaulted him, shoving him to the ground. The assault was answered with a yellow card from the referee.
Montreal and Canada in general have seen rising antisemitism in recent years. The incident at the soccer match came mere hours after an overnight suspected arson attack caused severe damage to Nöam, a prominent kosher eatery located in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.
