Two Second Cup caf\u00e9s at Montreal\u2019s Jewish General Hospital have been permanently closed, and the franchise owner\u2019s contract was terminated after videos emerged of the franchisee engaging in hate speech at a recent protest. In a statement, Second Cup Canada reaffirmed its \u201czero tolerance for hate speech\u201d and confirmed the closures and contract termination in collaboration with hospital management. The staff of the affected locations will continue to be paid and retained until the caf\u00e9s reopen under new ownership.<\/p>\n
The disturbing videos, reviewed by Second Cup\u2019s parent company, Foodtastic, show the franchisee making a Nazi salute and using antisemitic language, including references to the Holocaust\u2019s “final solution.” The protest, held outside Concordia University, was part of a pro-Palestinian demonstration where tensions have recently escalated, with violent incidents and calls for Quebec institutions to divest from Israeli-linked companies.<\/p>\n
Peter Mammas, Foodtastic’s president, condemned the franchisee\u2019s actions, stating, \u201cWe are completely against hate speech and anything that incites violence. Everyone has the right to voice opinions respectfully.\u201d Shortly after confirming the woman\u2019s identity, Foodtastic swiftly issued her a franchise termination notice.<\/p>\n
CIUSSS West-Central Montreal, the health authority for the Jewish General Hospital, also stated support of Second Cup\u2019s actions, standing “firmly against antisemitism and any form of discrimination or hate speech.”<\/p>\n
The incident has drawn further criticism from community leaders like B\u2019nai Brith\u2019s Henry Topas, who voiced concerns about rising antisemitism in Montreal. Political leaders across Canada have also publicly condemned recent antisemitic incidents in Montreal, calling for measures to curb hateful rhetoric and violent behavior at protests.<\/p>\n
Source: Swifteradio.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Second Cup caf\u00e9s at Montreal\u2019s Jewish General Hospital have been permanently closed, and the franchise owner\u2019s contract was terminated after videos emerged of the franchisee engaging in hate speech at a recent protest. In a statement, Second Cup Canada reaffirmed its \u201czero tolerance for hate speech\u201d and confirmed the closures and contract termination in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[3672,12867,12868,12869,12870,12871,12872,12873,12874,12875,12876],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-amat","tag-antisemitic-remarks-protest","tag-antisemitism-canada","tag-ciusss-west-central-montreal","tag-foodtastic-second-cup","tag-franchise-shutdown","tag-hate-speech-protest","tag-montreal-jewish-general-hospital-cafe","tag-montreal-pro-palestinian-protest","tag-second-cup-franchise-termination","tag-second-cup-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}