Last night I attended an anti-Israel demonstration at downtown Toronto's city hall. I thought it was important to show a pro-Israeli presence there. While Israel continues to be attacked on all sides by rockets as well as by Israeli Arabs attacking their long time Jewish neighbours inside Israel, we must show our support of our brothers and sisters in Israel. As one of the greatest commentators of the Torah, Rashi, once said: "If not now, when? "
Turns out I walked into a wasp nest. There were tens of thousands of pro-Palis with Hamas, Hezbolla, Fatah and other terrorist groups and about 100 pro-Israelis counter demonstrating. One can see our small group in the middle, sandwiched between 2 larger groups of anti-Israel protesters.
Here is a good aerial shot of Nathan Phillips Square in front of city hall where this all started from our local Toronto news CP24: (I'm in there somewhere.)
It started peaceful enough. I was watching fellow supporters dancing with Israeli flags and listening to them sing peaceful and uplifting songs like 'Am Yisrael Chai' which means the Nation of Israel Lives. The others shouted 'From the River to the sea Palestine will be free' which means they want to destroy Israel from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea.
Walking towards the place at around 7 PM on a beautiful sunny evening, one could hear the yelling and horns blaring long before we got there. Pro Palestinians were coming from every corner to the event. Usually I come to these rallies with my Israeli flag but this time something told me not too. As the photos and video's display, they were on one side and we were on the other, separated with police barricades. After only 20 minutes they started to surround us. The police did their best to stand in their way but I certainly did not like to see them behind us. They were throwing bottles and pop containers at us. Let alone the vile things they were saying which of course did not surprise me. I've been to these demonstrations before. I asked a cop why are you allowing them to surround us. He said simply 'we don't have enough forces'. I knew then that the police could not protect us. Heck, they couldn't protect themselves. Why they didn't call in more police or the military if required, I don't know. I was there with a couple of friends (we usually walk downtown to see the beautiful scenery and architecture of old Toronto) on Saturday evenings. I convinced them to stop by this rally so they did but they stayed back in the periphery of the square. I don't blame them. After about half an hour I left the pro-Israel area that was getting squeezed smaller by the minute. I found my friends and we made our way slowly out of there but every street in the area was jam packed with anti-Israeli crowds. It was total mayhem.
Had any of us carried an Israeli flag or been wearing anything that would have identified us as Jews like a kippah or a star of David, we would have been in grave danger. They were looking for blood. And eventually they found it
A few of us pro-Israeli demonstrators who stayed too long and were escorted out of the area by the police ended up being attacked. One colleague had a chain swung at him and got his head split open. There were many other injuries, broken fingers, sexual assaults and violent beatings. You can see some in the videos below. Some police were also hurt. But of course none of this made the news.
Videos of violent attacks of pro-Israeli protesters
Where is our Mayor, Premier or Prime Minister? They are usually fighting for air time 24/7, lecturing us ad nauseam about the covid pandemic. Condemning large gatherings, etc. But when ten's of thousands of Muslims and their supporters decide to ignore the rules and worse, attack peaceful demonstrators, I hear crickets.
Mostly I put the blame on our pathetic PM, Justin Trudeau who has been letting in some of the worst scum into our beautiful country for years now. Being French one might have hoped that he'd have learned from what is going on for years in France, where they have also been letting in some of the worst elements of Muslim society. France has been crumbling. The arab violence and blatant antisemitism is going through the roof there. Jews have been leaving in droves as they can see the writing on the walls. Their government will not protect them, if they ever have.
We are going down that same road. Sad to say that most Canadians including Jews, aren't the least bit aware of what is happening to our beautiful country! Last night set a new and dangerous precedent for our enemies in Canada's largest city. They took over downtown. Most of the news glossed over this nightmare focussing instead on road closures downtown due to 'a demonstration'. The pro-Palestinian movement in Canada (they had similar demonstrations in Vancouver) must feel very emboldened. Look for more such tragedies to occur both large and small throughout Canada and especially in Liberal Toronto.
