Québec solidaire’s Ruba Ghazal denounces violence against women
Posted December 1, 2025 1:56 pm.
“Islamic vermin. What filth.”
That’s one of many negative comments Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal has received on social media – some of which she’s contacted police about.
The Lebanese-born MNA for Mercier, part of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough in Montreal, denounced violence targeting women in a video Friday.
In the video, Ghazal reads aloud racist, threatening, and insulting messages she received on social media.
“We know your addresses, as well as those of your families. Watch yourselves closely, we’re going to rid Quebec of you,” wrote one commenter
“Have babies instead of ‘playing leader’ (jouer à la germaine). Let men take their place,” wrote another.
“No one should receive these kinds of comments,” Ghazal says in the video. “Yet, it’s the reality for many women, especially women who speak out publicly. My partner also receives them. My team receives them. My mother even gets them, and it worries her. It’s extremely worrying to receive this kind of attack. It worries me because it’s violent.
“I’m worried for the women who receive so many of them. It also worries me that people might think it’s trivial, that they might think it’s normal to receive these kinds of comments. It worries me a lot.”
Ghazal says it was important for her to speak out now as part of the 12 Days of Action Against Violence Against Women leading up to the Dec. 6 anniversary of the 1989 Polytechnique massacre.
“I will not remain silent. We will not be silenced. We will continue to speak out,” she said. “We will continue to claim our rightful place as women. In Quebec, women have fought for their place. No one, absolutely no one, will succeed in silencing us.”
The politician says she has no problem with criticism of her policies but is denouncing threatening and violent rhetoric.
She told Le Devoir recently that she’s most often targeted for three reasons: because she speaks about feminist issues; is a woman of immigrant origin; and is vocal about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ghazal says if we don’t accept that kind of speech in real life, why should it be accepted online.
