We Can’t Guarantee Your Safety

As a Jewish activist who has attended numerous demonstrations in Toronto over the years,  I've heard this statement from police "We can't guarantee your safety." all too often. 

It's a dangerous way of thinking. The premise can be legitimate. If there are thousands of rowdy demonstrators protesting something in an area and just a few people who wish to counter their protest, there might be a case where the police might institute that policy of not allowing those few people to counter protest because the police would not be able to protect them from a massive crowd. 

The problem with this is twofold. 

First, where does one draw the line? If the bigger crowd is rowdy and explosive (ie. violent) then they will always have the upper hand. All one has to do is threaten violence when demonstrating and they will de facto be the only ones permitted to protest.  

Second, it gives the police an easy way to abrogate their responsibility to protect the public. They can pick and choose which people to protect and which people must lose their ability for free speech. Of course their policies come from our political leaders who give them direction. 

In Toronto, Canada, as is the case with most cities in the world, there are laws pertaining to protests. Protestors/demonstrators cannot trespass for example. In many cases a permit is required. Stopping traffic is usually illegal. Most important is they must be peaceful. We've all witnessed many rallies that occur all around us where all of these laws are broken, time and time again without any consequences. 

In 2021 during our Covid lockdown in downtown Toronto city hall, tens of thousands of pro-'Palestinian' demonstrators protested and took over most of our downtown core. At the time our mayor instituted laws prohibiting gatherings of more than 8 people. They also insisted on social distancing (minimum 6 feet between people was the rule). Worse still was the violence committed by these brutal protesters. There were many peaceful, counter protestors who were violently injured. I was there and witnessed the entire shameful and scary event. I was part of a small group of pro-Israel counter demonstrators. Soon we found ourselves sandwiched between 2 groups of 'pro-Palestinian' protestors numbered in the thousands. Their group grew exponentially within minutes as Arabs from as far as London Ontario were being bussed in every 10 minutes. A thin line of police separated the groups. At the start of the protest, the cops put a steel barrier between us. But later the 'pro-Palis' broke the barrier and surrounded us. I asked a cop why are you allowing them to surround us? He answered that there weren't enough police. I told him to call in more. I saw the fear in his eyes. They were scared. In short order they escorted us out of there to safety where we all quickly dispersed. We had to hide any identifiable decals of who we were. (Ie. no Israeli flags, kippot, etc.) There were no consequences for the 'pro-Palestinian' protestors. Not a single arrest. No comment from our mayor, city councillors or the mainstream media. Unless you were downtown at the time, you wouldn't have even known about it.

I posted about this when it happened: Leon's: The World is Upside Down  I realized then and there that our society in the West was in big trouble. While most of us were asleep at the wheel, Islamists had taken over our country. Our government gave them a pass. Instead of doing their job and keeping us safe (a prime directive for any government), they let the dangerous crowd rule the day. 

Today things have only gotten worse. One can see dangerous protests from Islamists also known as 'pro-Palestinians' who's chants are always 'From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free' (free of Jews) happening throughout the Western world. Sad to say that some of the few places one doesn't see this happening is in a few totalitarian states like Russia, China or North Korea. How pathetic has the world become if we need to follow their example?

Today a friend sent me this short clip here (you might need Twitter to watch it) of a righteous man from Iran who demanded to protest freely in Toronto against the Islamist crowd who have been illegally protesting every single week at our city hall at least since the Oct 7 massacre committed by Hamas in Israel. This is what pushed me to write this post. The police refused to let this man protest with a Canadian flag no less because.... wait for it....

'We can't guarantee your safety' 

But we can guarantee the safety of the other, thuggish Islamists side. We can guarantee only their right to free speech. 

I recently went to a protest around the corner from where I live. It was held at a highway overpass (hwy 401) where there have been 'pro-Palestinian' protests occurring there weekly. That day they didn't show up. I'm glad they weren't there. I don't need to expose their vile hate to my daughter who joined me. What was noticable were the lack of police. A couple of cop cars parked nearby for a few minutes and then quickly left. They know that we are always peaceful when we demonstrate. We don't block traffic or hang signs on the highway illegally. Mostly we don't threaten others! Here's a short clip of that event:

Me and my daughter Melanie at that demonstration:

We are going down a very dangerous road. The fight is on and the silver lining of Oct 7 is that it has woken many of us out of our stupor when it comes to defending Jews from Jew hatred. We can't afford to be silent any longer. Our grandchildren and society at large are at stake. It's obvious (to me at least) that we cannot rely on our politicians to enforce the law and keep us safe. Most of the current government throughout the western world have completely abrogated their responsibility. Instead they close their eyes and ears to us since we are a small minority in the hopes that we go away and eventually disappear. 

We won't. We never have. 

Israel is doing a fine job of defeating her enemies, but what about us?

Israel went through hell recently and continues to suffer the consequences.

But I have faith that Israelis with G-d’s help will wipe out Hamas (they are doing so at great pace currently) and deal with all of their enemies.

 

You might recall that hours after the Oct 7 pogrom, when the PM of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu announced that Israel is at war with Hamas in Gaza, pretty much the entire world predicted a disaster for Israel. Estimates for dead or injured IDF soldiers who would eventually have to enter the crowded cities within the Gaza strip were in the tens of thousands per month!

Those who support Israel, like myself, were very concerned. I myself was hoping that Israel would turn the entire Gaza strip into rubble via bombs dropped from planes. I didn't want to risk one Israeli life dealing with concealed weapons, booby traps and tunnels. 

Yet here we are, 2 plus months into the war and the IDF are doing amazing things. The 'brave' Hamas fighters are surrendering in record numbers. Here is a recent photograph of a bunch of these overweight fighters. Apparently they are not starving after all...

Of course many Israeli soldiers and civilians have lost their precious lives and many continue to suffer. But the casualty rate has not come close to the many dire predictions. Hopefully in good time, Hamas and their supporters (most Arabs in the Middle East) will be taken care of (if you know what I mean). 

But we in the diaspora are not holding our own. I’m afraid that I lack any great faith to push back from the myriad antisemites that confront us daily. 

There are some glimmers of hope for sure. I am thrilled to hear of many of my friends who until recently have been mostly silent on the war against antisemites of which there are plenty.

From individuals to public and private institutions including our government, there is no shortage of people who hate us. It took the UN months to admit that innocent Israeli women and children were raped, beheaded, burned alive and tortured in the most gruesome ways imaginable, let alone publicly condemn it. 

Just as the pogrom on Oct 7 woke up some of us who stand on the right side of history, that is, with Israel - it also woke up many haters on the wrong side, against Israel and of course against Jewish people everywhere. 

Israel being a Jewish state, does not suffer the kind of antisemitism that we do outside of Israel. To be sure, hers is of a most serious, existential threat. Her Muslim enemies want to wipe Israel off the map. If you can't see that they absolutely mean what they say, then you are beyond help.

Whereas in the diaspora our enemies are mostly not committed suicide bombers or beheaders just yet. There are some obvious exceptions like 9/11. But we have been under assault daily in just about every community in the West for forever. But it's getting nasty out there. To those who live in my city (Toronto) for example, think back 20 or so years. Can you recall seeing 'Palestinian' or Hamas flags on our streets throughout our beautiful city? On every single university campus (who's presidents are complicit in their solidarity with their Jew hate)? At multiple city halls? There has been a pro-Palestinian demonstration every single weekend at my city hall since Oct 7 and G-d help you if you try to run a counter demonstration there. I live in a mostly Jewish suburb of Toronto and just a couple of hours ago I saw some people carrying large Pali flags towards a bridge over our main highway (401). My Jewish friend who lives downtown told me how only recently police had to surround his building in order to protect the residents from anti-Israel (anti-Jewish) demonstrators. This evokes images of Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938, does it not? 

All this was unheard of just a decade or so before. I'm not saying that it wasn't simmering but it surely wasn't as overt as it is now. Thankfully my late Holocaust survivor parents aren't here to witness it. 

Although we are small in number compared to our detractors, we must speak out now more than ever. In fact because (I like the Hebrew word 'dafka' even better than 'because') we are the minority, we are obligated to be more vociferous than they are, right?

Now is the time to not hold back. Speak your mind out loud and repeatedly. Show your face. Go to rallies in support of Israel and to put pressure to free the hostages. If you don't, apolitical folks in the West will not speak up for you. They will most likely speak up for the loudest voices they can hear. 

My Wife and Daughter's union at work donated $50,000 to Gaza agencies (HAMAS)

Both my wife and daughter work for the Canadian federal government. As such they are forced to join one of the large Canadian unions in Canada, called PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada) with over 200,000 members. If you work for the federal government or its agencies, you must join this union and pay union dues which are automatically deducted from your pay cheque. 

The other day they were notified that PSAC decided to donate $50,000 to Gaza agencies via the following email:

https://psacunion.ca/psac-donates-50000-humanitarian-aid-gaza

If you click on the link above you will see the following statement:

"PSAC has allocated $25,000 each to two humanitarian agencies in Gaza: the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees."

The Palestinian Red Crescent has been known to sneak weapons and terrorists in and out of Gaza and other Arab enclaves in Israel.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has had members who belong to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PA and other enemies of Israel. Their mission is to keep those Arabs who call themselves Palestinians, refugees as long as they can. 

There are many documented incidents that prove that both organizations cannot be trusted. I picked just one article to prove this:

https://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL05686115/

On top of this, everyone knows (or should know) that any aid sent to Gaza for the citizens of Gaza will be appropriated by terrorist groups, like Hamas, who control the area. 

The irony is that neither organization is registered with Canada's federal tax agency (CRA) as a registered charity in Canada. 

Can you imagine working for an employer who deducts your wages in order to help fund people who want you dead?

Why is PSAC donating union dollars to organizations outside of Canada that have nothing to do with Canada or federal employees?PSAC should be focussing its efforts on benefiting its members. How does donating union funds to UNRWA help its union members?

At the very least if they insist on doing what they did, they should have donated an equal amount to the Israeli Red Cross. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians had to run away from their homes near the Gaza strip. They are living day to day and suffering. Where are the donations to them?

And finally, who asked PSAC to do this? Did they run it by their members first? Nope! 

My wife and daughter both wrote to the union to complain.

For what it's worth, we will notify the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Bnai Brith about this. It would be nice if the union PSAC was sued.

Here is my daughter's excellent letter to her union at work:

Hello PSAC,

I am highly offended and frankly disgusted with the news release that you are donating $50000 to Gaza agencies which are actually run by Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization. 

On October 7th 1400 Israelis were burned, raped, murdered and kidnapped from Hamas. Where was your offer to donate to the Israeli families? If you are siding with Gaza, you are openly stating you antisemitic. I will not go into the history of Israel and the politics involved in this unless I need to. The fact is there was a ceasefire until Hamas broke it and killed several hundred Israelis. Israel has a right to defend itself and will continue to demand the release of every hostage including a 10 month old baby.

I am actually sickened by the action the union is taking. As a Jew, I feel that you have only isolated myself and probably the rest of any other Jews that are part of this union. How dare you take our members money and give it away without even a vote on such actions? Who asked for this? Why do you have a care about what’s happening outside Canada and our union? I do not wish my union dues to be spent on any so called charitable organizations period. Should I choose to donate my personal money to any charity I’ll do that on my own accord, thanks.

Furthermore, I’d like to escalate my complaint to the highest level authority. Should this go without any resolution on my end I would like to know how I terminate my union membership as I refuse to take part of this organization that openly funds a terrorist organization and is a threat to my own people.