Police urged to protect Jews from ‘hateful’ Al-Quds Day protests

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Politicians and community leaders are warning that anti-Israel rallies planned for Al-Quds Day this Sunday could be filled with antisemitic chants and the glorification of terrorism, and they are asking law enforcement to do more to protect the Jewish community.

“There’s been a long history of concern about Al-Quds Day, which is an annual hateful protest, an event that calls for the elimination and eradication of the State of Israel,” Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford told National Post.

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“That often ends up bringing out folks who are glorifying terrorists and waving Hamas flags and calling for the death of Jews, and I think in a country like Canada, that is morally objectionable. It’s abhorrent, and it’s not the type of thing that we want to see on the streets of Toronto.”

The event, which coincides with the end of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, was created in 1979 after Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was brought the idea by his foreign minister. Although nominally calling for the “liberation” of Jerusalem (Al-Quds in Arabic), demonstrations across the globe often devolve into chants of “Death to Israel,” “Death to America,” and the burning of flags and effigies.

Al-Quds Day marches have been planned across the country, with large rallies expected in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal. Posters for the Toronto and Montreal rallies list the Palestinian Youth Movement, a group supportive of the October 7 terror attacks, as a main partner. Leadership from Samidoun, a group recently designated a terror entity by the federal government in October, also frequently promotes and attends these marches.

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The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and B’nai Brith Canada highlighted the event’s Iranian roots as differentiating it from other protests seen since October 7.

“Al-Quds Day is not just another protest or demonstration,” CIJA wrote in a statement to the Post. “It is a state-sponsored, anti-Israel event, orchestrated annually by the Iranian regime to support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — a Canadian-listed terrorist organization — in its efforts to destabilize the Middle East and spread hatred against Israel, Jews, and Western democratic values around the world.”

B’nai Brith Canada launched a letter-writing campaign urging the mayors in Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto to cancel the “hatefest” in their cities.

Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, a prominent member of the Montreal Jewish community, called on law enforcement to take proactive steps to ensure hate speech and incitement to violence is not tolerated.

“In the past, Al-Quds Day rallies, particularly in Toronto, have crossed the line into promotion of hate, antisemitism and support for designated terrorist organizations,” the former special advisor on Jewish Community Relations wrote the Post.

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“I will be asking the Mayor of Montreal and police to ensure that all federal and provincial laws and municipal bylaws are strictly enforced and that police have a clear plan to do this and will immediately step in the second the line into illegality is crossed.”

Earlier this month, Bradford joined fellow councillor James Pasternak to demand the city and Toronto Police Service (TPS) enforce its Hate Rallies policy to protect the Jewish community and ensure “every necessary precaution” is taken ahead of Al-Quds Day. Pasternak told the Post his appeal is rooted in a broader frustration with the mainstreaming of antisemitism seen across the Greater Toronto Area since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

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“Many people who grew up here do not recognize the city anymore. They are shocked and disheartened by the hate and threats that’s taken over in many aspects of day-to-day life, particularly targeting the Jewish community. The rallies are nothing more than hate gatherings,” the York Centre leader said.

Pasternak listed some of the most concerning attacks since October 7, such as the repeated shooting up of a Jewish girl’s day school, the firebombing of a Jewish grocery store, vandalism of synagogues and harassment outside Jewish community centres.

“I know hate when I see it. And these are not charter-protected,” Pasternak said. “It’s been a horrible time.”

Toronto has been host to large Al-Quds gatherings that have included antisemitic rhetoric.

At a 2014 rally, Elias Hazineh, a former president of Palestine House, a local cultural institution, issued Israelis “an ultimatum” demanding they leave their country immediately.

“We say get out or you’re dead! We give them two minutes and then we start shooting. And that’s the only way that they will understand,” he said to cheers from the crowd, the Times of Israel reported.

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Another speaker at the 2014 march reportedly called Jews and Israelis “inhuman.”

At the 2022 rally in Toronto, demonstrators chanted in Arabic in apparent support of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Flags of the Lebanese terror group and Iran, a state-sponsor of Hezbollah and Hamas, have been seen among participants. The following year, Samidoun leader Charlotte Kates addressed marchers in Toronto, praising members of terror groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Also present was Firas al-Najim, a local activist who sought to hold a vigil last year for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

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Advertisements for the upcoming Toronto march signal that it will feature similar rhetoric. One poster billed the gathering as “Palestine resists; Zionism ceases to exist.”

“Year after year, Al-Quds Day rallies in Toronto have featured dangerous rhetoric and blatant antisemitism,” Michael Levitt, president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement. “It’s critical that law enforcement and city officials take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our community and to enforce laws against hate speech and incitement.”

The group said it has been in communication with Toronto Police Service leadership.

“As with all demonstrations and large gatherings, police will be there to ensure public safety,” TPS spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer wrote the Post. “In addition to a visible frontline officer presence, we will also have officers from our specialized Hate Crime Unit on the ground, to immediately gather evidence and investigate any suspected hate crimes, or hate speech, or signage.”

Councillor Bradford maintained his confidence in TPS despite a recent podcast featuring two Muslim liaison officers suggesting that the October 7 attacks encouraged converts to Islam. They also said labelling anti-Israel demonstrations equivalent to “a Hamas rally” were discriminatory. The podcast was taken down after it sparked controversy. Toronto police have come under scrutiny by Jewish community leaders since the Hamas attacks for questionable conduct, including when officers delivered coffee to anti-Israel demonstrators illegally occupying a highway overpass.

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Ontario MP Kevin Vuong called on provincial and federal leaders to “keep Torontonians safe from this hate rally.” Vuong, an outspoken supporter of the Jewish community, said he hopes the premier “will follow-through on his 2018 promise to ban it.”

Before entering office in 2018, Premier Doug Ford had pledged that he would make sure “events like Al-Quds Day, which calls for the killing of an entire civilian population in Israel, are no longer part of the landscape in Ontario.”

“We have heard from Islamic leaders that Al-Quds Day and the Quds March is not a religious event, but a political event that glorifies terrorism. No one knows their religion better than them, we should listen to them and designate the rally as the hatefest that it is,” Vuong, the representative for Spadina-Fort York, wrote the Post.

Montreal police, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), wrote the Post in a statement they are “always on the lookout for events within its jurisdiction,” however, “for security reasons, the SPVM never reveals its intervention strategies or the number of police officers deployed in the field, either before or after an event.”

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When asked what SPVM’s response would be if designated terror entity flags are flown or chants sung during the Al-Quds Day event, spokeswoman Mélanie Bergeron explained: “The possession or use of a flag or a symbol is not a crime per say in Canada. Each situation is analyzed on a case-by-case basis, according to its specific context. For an event (crime or incident) to be confirmed as hateful, the investigation must clearly demonstrate (through the evidence gathered, questioning of the suspect, etc.) that the motive was hatred towards one of the identifiable groups specified in the Criminal Code.”

A spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s office initially told the Post they would be commenting on the matter after being provided with a list of questions but did not respond.

Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Tania Visintin said, “We are aware of the event taking place and will have officers in a position to respond should anything criminal occur.”

Housefather remained optimistic that a recent National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism in Ottawa earlier this month that brought together government leaders from all levels (including then-prime minister Justin Trudeau during his final days in office) “was a clear call to action.”

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“The pledge agreed to would speak to a requirement for clear planning and action when any line into illegality occurs,” Housefather wrote.

However, statements subsequently released by CIJA and B’nai Brith were skeptical that the meeting would bring about material changes to combatting skyrocketing antisemitism rates in Canada.

Deputy Conservative Party Leader Melissa Lantsman accused the Liberal Party of lacking leadership and allowing Al-Quds Day marchers — “the Hamas-supporting mob” — to engage in “the textbook definition of antisemitism.”

“Sights like these are no longer uncommon because Canada’s Liberal government has refused to stand against even the most vile behaviour happening in plain view. Our Canadian values are under attack right before our eyes — pretending not to see it is simply shameful,” the Thornhill MP wrote the Post.

Councillor Bradford set his sights more locally, directing his frustrations at Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.

“I think there has been such a lack of political leadership, and it starts right at the top with Mayor Chow, who has been largely absent and absolved herself of any sort of responsibility for making sure that this stuff doesn’t take place and it’s been really disappointing,” he said. “You know, we’re not going to resolve thousands of years of conflict in the Middle East here at the City of Toronto, but we sure as hell better stand up and call out the hate that’s taking place right here on our own streets in this city.”

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