Anti-NATO demonstration: organizers’ demands riddled with falsehoods, experts deplore

The organizers of the demonstration against NATO which degenerated Friday in Montreal invited the public to come and protest on dubious, if not completely false, grounds, according to experts in international relations.

“I think they need to take a course on international security and international organizations. I like that students are interested in politics, but it would be better if they found out before going to demonstrate,” summarizes Anessa Kimball, professor at the University of Laval and NATO specialist.

Why demonstrate against NATO? This is the question we can ask ourselves after seeing the images of mayhem, altercations with police officers and journalists attacked on Friday evening. This gathering of several hundred people took place on the sidelines of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly which is being held at the Palais des congrès de Montréal from November 22 to 25.

In the invitation to participate in this demonstration that it co-organized, the group Convergence of anticapitalist struggles (CLAC) addresses three criticisms of NATO which raised eyebrows M^me Kimball when The Journal asked him to analyze them.

“I wanted to take out my red pen and say: that’s not true, that’s not true,” says the expert.

“It’s far-fetched”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which includes Canada and the United States, is a military alliance whose members undertake to protect each other against any threat.

In its invitation, CLAC notably accuses NATO of being “complicit in the Palestinian genocide” through its “unwavering support for Israel, which is NATO’s central ally”.

“That’s completely false,” Anessa Kimball said with a laugh. “It would be necessary [pour cela] that there is a formal pact or treaty between NATO and Israel, and it does not exist.”

“To involve NATO in what is happening in the Middle East, to say that it is far-fetched, that would even be too kind,” insists Laurent Borzillo, doctor in political science and member of the Network of strategic analysis.

Beliefs “propagated by Russia”

The organizers of the demonstration also write that “NATO destroys everything in its path, spreads misery and encourages the multiplication of armed groups” and that this would be done “in the name of American imperialism”.

“These beliefs are propagated by Russia on the idea that everything is the fault of NATO, the United States and Western imperialists, when it is Russia [la Russie] who attacked [l’Ukraine]. Sweden is a country that gave up more than 200 years of neutrality to join NATO [par peur de Moscou]. This shows that if there is imperialism, it is perhaps more on the side of Russia [que d’ailleurs]“, argues Mr. Borzillo.

Finally, CLAC criticizes NATO for putting pressure on Ottawa to increase its military budget to 2% of its GDP. “This money should be used for education, health and the community,” we can read.

“It was Canada that agreed to the percentage and it dates back to 2006,” recalls Anessa Kimball. “The pressure on Canada is because the other partners have managed to respect this commitment,” he adds.