Ex-Second Cup franchisee arrested after antisemitic incident at Concordia protest
Franchisee had 2 coffee shops in Montreal's Jewish General Hospital
WARNING: The story below contains antisemitic remarks and an image of a woman making a Nazi salute.
A woman filmed making antisemitic remarks and performing a Nazi salute at a protest in Montreal last month has been arrested, according to Radio-Canada sources.
The incident, which occurred on Nov. 21 outside Concordia University, led to the termination of the woman's franchise agreement with Second Cup and the closure of the two café locations she operated at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital.
Montreal police have not yet publicly confirmed the arrest.
After reviewing videos of the protest, Peter Mammas, the president and CEO of Foodtastic (which owns the Second Cup coffee chain), confirmed that the woman raising her arm in a Nazi salute and making antisemitic remarks was Mai Abdulhadi, the franchisee involved.
"The final solution is coming your way, the final solution. You know what the final solution is?" the woman can be heard saying in the crowd.
The phrase is widely recognized for its association with Nazi Germany's plan to exterminate Jewish people.
CBC has viewed the videos, which are being circulated on social media.
Mammas said a franchise termination notice was served to her shortly after her identity was verified.
The protest Abdulhadi attended was organized in the context of CEGEP and university students in Montreal striking and calling for Quebec post-secondary institutions to divest from companies with ties to Israel and urging the federal government to take a stance against the ongoing war in Gaza.
In a statement posted to its social media pages days later, on Nov. 24, Second Cup Canada said it has "zero tolerance for hate speech."
"In co-ordination with the hospital, we've shut down the franchisee's café and are terminating their franchise agreement," the statement read, noting staff would be retained and paid until the locations reopen under new management.
On the social media platform X, Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith Canada commended the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) for making the arrest.
"This sends a clear and powerful message: hate and antisemitism will not be tolerated on Canadian streets," the post read. "Thank you to the SPVM for standing up for justice and protecting Canadian values. Together, we remain vigilant in the fight against hate."
Written by Isaac Olson with files from Radio-Canada