On the Eve of Montreal Pride, LGBTQ Advocate Faces Backlash over Gaza Comments

The president of a Zionist group marching in Montreal’s pride parade Sunday suggested that the famine in Gaza is “fake news” and that “Palestinians are complicit with Hamas.”

In a series of Instagram messages obtained by The Rover, Ga’ava president Carlos A. Godoy responds to a follower who wanted to know more about the group’s stance on starving children in Gaza. So far, the famine has killed 96 children and put another 12,000 kids under the age of five at risk of starvation, according to the World Health Organization.

Godoy’s response:

“I see images of suffering children, but I also see images taken from other conflicts, fake news-style, and I see fat mothers with their emaciated sons who are suffering from an illness and look like that normally as a result of this illness.”

Ga’ava was excluded from Montreal Pride last week after some groups threatened to pull out of the parade, citing the presence of a zionist group whose president has a history of problematic statements equating support for the Palestinian people with support for terrorism. Ga’ava, the Hebrew word for Pride, describes itself as Montreal’s oldest Jewish LGBTQ organization.

At the time, Fierté Montréal — which organizes the parade — released this statement:

“Fierté Montréal condemns the ongoing genocide in Gaza, expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people and calls for the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in Palestine, and everywhere in the world, to be respected and protected.” 

Fierté also said the parade could not include groups that spread hateful discourse.

Pride also banned the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a group that advocated against Canada providing aid to Palestinians through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). CIJA has repeated claims by Israel’s Netanyahu government that members of UNRWA helped coordinate the Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis. But without UNRWA, which the Israeli government outlawed earlier this year, children in Gaza have lost access to education, food and basic healthcare. 

Ga’ava and CIJA were reinstated Tuesday following a pressure campaign that saw the president of Fierté Montréal’s board resign for “personal reasons.” Fierté also issued an apology to the Jewish community, saying that people of all religious affiliations should feel safe at the event.

After seeing screenshots of Godoy’s apparent denial of the famine, a board member from the queer advocacy group Helem said they were shocked.

“I’m sure that (Godoy) doesn’t represent everyone at Ga’ava, but for Fierté to platform someone who is denying genocide and to deny everything that’s happening in Gaza is wild,” said Yara Coussa, whose group advocates for Arabic-speaking members of the community. “They talk about inclusion, but at this point, why not include a white supremacist group?”

In a message to The Rover, Godoy characterized the leaking of his direct messages as an attempt to smear him. 

“(This person) chose to interact with me in private on this topic and I made private comments to him in response,” Godoy wrote. “Those exchanges did not happen in the public sphere. He then blocked me and has since embarked on a smear campaign.

“Him and I have also had other private messages on other topics. I do not know if he is sharing those, too. I recommend you advise him to cease this smearing operation.”

He also said he regrets his choice of words in the conversation and that no child should suffer in war.

As for Godoy’s apparent denial of the famine, he sent The Rover a link to a New York Post story that claims Muhammad Zakariya — an emaciated toddler who died after suffering from severe malnutrition in Gaza — died from a pre-existing medical condition. This argument has been widely circulated by Honest Reporting, a lobby group that orchestrates harassment campaigns against Canadian journalists who report critically on Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

In a statement to The Rover, Fierté Montréal said Godoy “is neither an employee or a volunteer of Fierté Montreal. His comments are his own and in no way reflect the views of the organization.”

Though groups like CIJA have long denied that the Israel Defense Forces are committing ethnic cleansing in Gaza, Amnesty International, the United Nations, Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders have been unequivocal: it is a genocide.

Last week, two Israeli groups released detailed reports outlining their conclusion that Israel’s campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide.

“The evidence shows a deliberate and systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health and life-sustaining systems,” reads a 65-page report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel. “Through the targeted attacks on hospitals, obstruction of medical aid and evacuations, and the killing and detention of healthcare personnel.”

In another message obtained by The Rover, Godoy claims Palestinians hate Jews more than they love their own children, a statement one Jewish Montrealer describes as “one of the most horrific things I’ve ever read.”

“I, as a parent, cannot believe what I’m reading,” said Zev Saltiel, a member of Independent Jewish Voices Montreal. “The people of Palestine love their children. There are no words to describe how much they love their children. There is nothing worse than knowing your child is hungry and you can’t do anything about it. Every time I feed my child, my heart hurts. To say something like this is so unbelievably cruel.

“(Godoy) is not Jewish but claims to be speaking on behalf of the Jewish community and I take offense to that. When we look at this message, ‘fat mothers,’ I’m at a loss for words. People being fat has nothing to do with the food they’re eating. We’re mocking sick children, which is horrific. 

“Netanyahu has made it very clear, this week especially, that his goal is the total siege of Gaza despite his own military telling him this is putting hostages in danger. This is not about the hostages. Israel is blocking all food from entering Gaza, they are starving the hostages, too.”

For three months last spring, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Northern Gaza, claiming Hamas was stealing food from civilians to feed its fighters. But the Israeli government has since been forced to admit there is no evidence to support this claim. In fact, Israel was providing arms to a gang in Gaza that attacked aid convoys in order to undermine Hamas.

The controversy around Fierté Montréal’s about-face on Gaza comes as the group is being challenged by Wild Pride, a protest festival that describes itself as anti-capitalist, anti-colonial and anti-police. 

Though its name may sound abrasive, organizers of Wild Pride say the festival will be inclusive of children, it will create teen-only spaces and rent out a public pool for trans people who are often excluded from such activities. 

The idea for the festival came from people who felt the mission of Pride was being co-opted by large corporations and institutions like the police, who have a history of systematically repressing the queer community. 

Yara Coussa, a founding member of Wild Pride, told Xtra Magazine:

“Montreal is a pretty radical city, and there’s a consensus here that our Pride just can’t be bought.”