Protection for Toronto's Jewish Community from Rabid Islamists

"Due to the changing security landscape in Toronto in recent weeks, including increased volatility and heightened fear in our communities, demonstrations  moving into residential neighbourhoods in the Bathurst and Sheppard area presents an unacceptable risk to public safety."

"As a result, demonstrators will not be permitted to enter residential streets in this area."

"[This is a] measured step to reduce the risk of escalation and maintain public safety." 

Toronto Police Service spokesperson Stephanie Sayer

A pro-Palestine march makes its way through Toronto, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

 

The issue of Toronto's Jewish community forced by disinterest from Toronto's mayor to 'notice' the ebbing lack of  safety and security imposed on that demographic by gangs of roving 'pro-Palestinian' demonstrators and the inaction of the Toronto Police Service to rein in the verbal insults and assaults ranging from 'Final Solution!' to 'Globalize the Intifada!' -- and other not-so-veiled threats that arose in the wake of the Palestinian Hamas terrorists governing Gaza committing an unspeakable mass atrocity in southern Israel -- had to wait over two years for action. And the Jewish community is supposed to be grateful that their distress under constant threat from openly-celebrating Islamist violence is finally being partially addressed.

 

Ostensibly the move to finally act to put an end to the mob incursion into streets housing Jewish Torontonians was the result of Jewish community group lobbying. In very fact those community groups pleaded with the municipality, the police, the province, to act in the face of intimidation and threats when the demonstrations first emerged and that was directly after the shocking massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023. The inaction of authorities at all levels to restore order and security from the federal government on down, was undoubtedly responsible for the kind of escalation that took place with synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres, along with privately owned Jewish businesses being shot at, firebombed and vandalized. 

A  protest at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Ave. West, a Jewish neighbourhood, featured one protester dressed as Yahya Al-Sinwar, the Hamas leader behind the October 7th massacre.  MSN

 

Each time violence erupted, authorities were quick to condemn the events, expressing solidarity with the Jewish community, piously declaiming that 'this (antisemitism and violence) is not Canada'. Yet it is what Canada has become under the watch of the decade-long reign of the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, followed by Mark Carney. Both of whom have a penchant for bemoaning antisemitism, and never failing to link it with the (to them) equally troubling 'Islamophobia', which in itself is rather absurd, since most of the antisemitic attacks come courtesy of the Canadian Muslim population.

 

The Toronto Police spokesperson explained that legal protests on main streets in the area where the Jewish community in the city is located will be permitted to continue. The same protests that have taken place regularly since the day following the October7, 2023 slaughter of Israelis by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the PLO's Fatah contingents, led by the master-class terrorist group Hamas, whose charter is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.  

"Our community has consistently refused to accept the normalization of intimidation on residential streets in the heart of a heavily Jewish neighbourhood."

"Around Bathurst and Sheppard, residents, families, seniors, students and community institutions have been forced to contend with repeated demonstrations in spaces where people should be able to live, walk, pray, and gather in peace."

B'nai Brith Canada 

Another Jewish group that had called upon the city and police for attention to the plight of the Toronto Jewish community, stated that the announcement by the Toronto Police Service represented "a meaningful step -- but it must be matched with consistent enforcement and protection for our community." 

"At protests at Bathurst & Sheppard, extremists openly made threats of violence, glorified terrorism, and depicted Jews as sub-human — yet no arrests have been announced. After multiple attacks on our community, many are asking why the law is not being enforced."

"We’re calling on TPS to investigate and lay charges, declare assemblies unlawful when there are activities that promote and incite hate, and make the necessary and critical changes to protect our city."

Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs  

Images of antisemitic signage shared by X user Leviathan (@l3v1at4an) during an anti-Israel protest Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. West in Toronto on Sunday, March 15. (Credit: @l3v1at4an/X)

 

There is much to be concerned about.  Days following the U.S.-Israel launch of the joint aerial bombardment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to destroy its nuclear ambitions by targeting its powerful missile caches, its launch sites, nuclear enrichment sites, leading government authorities and chiefs of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in an effort to hasten  regime change and rescue the Iranian people from their persecutors while neutralizing Iran's capacity to train, arm and fund its proxy terrorist groups in the Middle East, synagogues were again hit by gunfire in Toronto.

 

Jewish-owned businesses and the U.S. consulate in Toronto were also shot at in demonstrations of Islamist targeting of associates and allies of the State of Israel. In addressing these and allied issues, the Toronto Police spokesperson stated that police officers would provide "clear direction". That anyone who fails to comply with them would face possible arrest for obstructing police.  

"The Toronto Police Service facilitates lawful demonstrations while balancing the rights of participants with the safety of the broader public."

Stephanie Sayer  

Toronto police stand watch near the Al-Quds day protest in Toronto, Ontario, on March 14, 2026.

(photo credit: Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images)

 

Canadian Parliamentarians Under Threat

"We continue to strongly recommend that constituency offices follow a 'locked door' policy. If an appointment with a constituent is necessary, Members or their employees should consider virtual meetings for the foreseeable future."

"There's been a significant increase in the last five years in harassment of our members of Parliament, mostly online, but also in person and at events and by significant [that means] probably in the tune of 700- to 800-percent increase."

"There's been a significant investment in my area in the last month to resource us up and keep our nose above the waterline and deal with the massive workload which we are now facing."

Sergeant-at-Arms Patrick McDonell

 

"Every time there's vandalism or my staff feels unsafe or threatened, I have to work with them to decide how we will continue to serve Davenport in a way that is safe."

We do not sign up for our families to be threatened, for people to protest in front of our personal houses."

"We don't sign up for our staff to feel unsafe and to not be able to do their jobs." 

Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz

MP Julie Dzerowicz speaks with reporters in Ottawa about vandalism at her Toronto constituency office, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Photo by Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Members of Parliament in Ottawa have been reminded by the House of Commons sergeant-at-arms that the chaotic situation that now prevails virtually everywhere in Canada -- with pro-Palestinian protest groups upending normalcy in their zeal to promote the isolation of Israel as an 'occupier' of Palestinian land, to condemn its very existence and to harass and threaten authorities at every level of government, from school boards to municipal offices upward to condemn Israel and relinquish any civil relations with the Jewish state -- that they must be alert to accompanying threats and violence by taking self-protective security measures.

To that end, Members of Parliament have been reminded in a reiteration of previous such cautions of late that doors to their offices should be kept locked, and face-to-face meetings with constituents in their constituency offices are to be avoided. This caution was contained in a memorandum distributed to all Members of Parliament. Early Tuesday in Toronto, Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz's Davenport constituency office had been vandalized, the phrase "Rafah is burning, Toronto will too", left behind.

As far as she was concerned, the vandalism represented a threat, one she conveyed to the Toronto Police Service. "Toronto will burn", she stated, represented a threat. Since the October 7 Hamas atrocities in southern Israel she and her staff have felt decidedly unsafe, impacting her work as a Member of Parliament, heightened considerably by a number of vandalism attacks. MPs, she said, arrive on the job with the expectation that protests and difficult conversations will at times confront them. However, the current situation is extraordinary and frightening.

 

Sergeant-at-Arms McDonell serves as well as the House of Commons corporate security officer. He spoke of MPs being harassed online and in person, a situational threat that has multiplied exponentially over the course of the last five years. And according to Mr. McDonell, in 2019 his office had opened eight files related to threats received by Members of Parliament, while last year the number of opened files increased to 530. The spike in death threats goes beyond the harassment of members of Parliament.

The very numbers of cases that must be dealt with rose to such a worrying degree that his office brought more people on to deal with rising threats and to engage to work in close cooperation with local law enforcement. All parties in the House of Commons have been the recipient of threats and harassment -- on line in particular. Earlier this year Liberal MP Pam Damoff announced her intention not to run for re-election, citing threats and harassment moving her decision.

 

MP Pam Damoff: “People used to pop in all the time just to say hi, now we can’t do that.” Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/File

"Our office is now closed to the public, it's locked and unless people have made an appointment in advance, we don't let them in."

"People used to pop in all the time just to say hi, now we can't do that because sometimes people use that as a ruse to get into the office."

"They're the ones [her staff] that are there five days a week -- I'm not. I'm in Ottawa a lot of the time and they are subjected to such abuse. It's horrible."

"We don't talk about the impact on staff and people talk to them the same way they talk to me."

Liberal MP Pam Damoff

The elephant in the room is what is not being said. Which is to say, just who and what is behind these threats and ongoing harassment. Logically and realistically it is the same group that shoot live bullets at Jewish parochial schools, that set fire to synagogues and that vandalize Jewish-owned businesses. This kind of criminal lawlessness and promotion of antisemitism comes hand-in-hand with the presence of Palestinians who have migrated abroad and whose state of perpetual victimhood has given it allies among populations that harbour resentment against Jews.

The government whose MPs are now complaining that they didn't 'sign up' for threats against their families and their constituency staff is the very government whose leader, Justin Trudeau has once more proudly announced that Canada is prepared to virtuously practise humanitarian action by inviting more Palestinians from Gaza to seek haven in Canada, to join the thousands of Syrians who fled the murderous attacks of Alawite-Shia Bashar al-Assad against his own Sunni Syrian population to seek haven in Canada.

 

 

 

Note that Palestinians in particular have a well-earned reputation for violence and chaotic destabilization of any country they enter. Muslim countries particularly in the Middle East are loathe to give them haven with the full knowledge of how reliably unstable they are, with an  unwillingness to integrate into the surrounding community preferring to nurse their grievances and nurture new generations into their own state of aspirational martyrdom for the greater purpose of attempting to destroy Israel and establish a 'Palestinian' state on ancestral Judean geography.

 

 

Pro-Hamas Protests Target Toronto's Jewish Community

Photo by the group Palesign documenting a blockade of the Avenue Road Bridge in north Toronto. Photo by Veronika Sykorova

 

"[There have been] brazen attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools and businesses [across the the city]."

"This hate-motivated arson is yet another direct assault on Canadian values, pluralism and the rule of law -- inciting violence singularly because of one's faith."

"Call it what it is: antisemitism."

MPP Stephen Lecce, Education Minister, Ontario

"Based on the quality of circumstances, we believe that it was committed with bias or prejudice."

"This is not graffiti on a bus shelter. This is not a lawful protest protected by constitutional right. This is a criminal act. It is violent. It is targeted. It is organized."

"We will leave no stone unturned."

Staff Superintendent Pauline Gray, Toronto Police Services

"[These types of incidents leave people feeling shaken and] diminish our sense of safety and belonging."

"All residents of Toronto deserve to be safe and feel safe."

"As Mayor, let me be clear: acts of antisemitism, hate and violence are not welcome here."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow

"[Politicians must] speak out forcefully, and take action, against the increasing intolerance targeting Jewish-owned businesses and predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods that we are witnessing on a regular basis."

Steven Del Duca, Mayor, Vaughan former leader Ontario Liberal party

"[The graffiti] confirmed [the suspected arson's] links to the anti-Israel mob."

"This escalation of lawlessness in #Toronto must come to an end."

James Pasternak, Toronto city councillor

Toronto firefighters are shown here at the scene of a fire at North York business early Wednesday. (CBC)

 

So very, very heartening for the Jewish community in Toronto and elsewhere across Canada to know that area politicians are aware of and averse to the divisions within society, stemming from the 'pro-Palestinian' mobs that descend day after day on city streets, bridges, in front of government buildings to shout their 'from the river to the sea' slogan, along with 'gas the Jews', 'intifada' and other cries to appeal to the hate festering in the minds of immigrants from Muslim countries and their enablers who set out to vilify Israel for defending its citizens against murderous terrorist groups.

Like the mob that has assembled day after day on the overpass on the city's main traffic artery, the 401 highway, leading to the heart of Jewish Toronto. The Jewish-owned deli-grocery that was firebombed is about a kilometre distant from the overpass. It doesn't take a genius to turn over a rock to understand that the nasty little slugs slithering out from under are part of that raucous hate-filled mob expressing their vocal antisemitism for all to hear. Nor does it make sense for the very police who vow they will leave no stone unturned, helpfully standing alongside the pro-Hamas protesters to ensure their safety.

That politicians are rallying to condemn antisemitism so viral and lethal it sparked a fire and left graffiti identifying the event with the 'pro-Palestinian' protests, is interesting, but thus far no politician, from the mayor to the provincial premier to the police services have made any move to put a stop to the ongoing racially motivated provocations that have interrupted peoples' lives, caused physical harm and created a terrifying situation for the Jewish population.

According to Toronto police statements they are investigating the fire set at International Delicatessen Foods that broke out on Wednesday, as "motivated by hate", and it certainly takes a genius to arrive at that conclusion. This is a grocery business specializing in European foods, quirkally occasionally printing its menus in Russian language. Its windows were smashed and the shop was defaced with "Free Palestine" graffiti. Some might surmise that the sign over the front entrance reading IDF initials signifying the Israel Defense Forces drew the attention of the arsonists.

 

The business's name is displayed as the acronym 'IDF' in large red letters above the building's entrance. (CBC)

 

The shop owner located in north Toronto, informed Mike Colle, deputy mayor for north Toronto that he had concerns for his family's safety. He also spoke of his business set-back where it could take months of restoration before the business could reopen. Leading Mr. Colle to state that the arson strikes at the city's Jewish community's fears of their security in the face of violent antisemitism. Musing on the human cost of "appalling" hate-motivated violence. So city authorities are cognizant of the problem but haven't seen their way through to stemming it.

According to Toronto police, a major increase has been seen in hate-motivated crimes fuelled by tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war, where between October 7 and December 17, ninety-eight hate crimes were reported, in comparison to 48 for the same period a year earlier. Of the total, 56 were antisemitic in nature, 20 considered to be anti-Muslim.

 

Ya'ara Saks, the federal Liberal minister of mental health and addictions, whose own government under Justin Trudeau has done nothing whatever to take steps to put a stop to the Palestinian program of slandering Israel by accusing it of genocide, and chanting provocative slogans whose meanings are all too clear, that Israel should be destroyed, himself said "with each brazen act of incitement and of violence, the cycle of antisemitism and hateful acts increases", and it most certainly does.

"This leaves everyone in the Jewish community feeling unsafe. Am I going to be the next target? Are my family members going to be a target? This is just so unacceptable."

"This is the product of weeks and weeks and weeks of hateful rhetoric being spread by hate groups operating here."

Jamie Kirzner-Roberts, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

According to officials, police and firefighters were called to the scene at about 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke coming from the rear. Fire crews entered the building and quickly extinguished the blaze. (CBC)

Coping with Malevolently Crazed Protesters

"BLRS follows a progressive enforcement model and takes every opportunity to educate individuals on Ottawa's bylaws before the event, and work toward a resolution during the event."

"It's important to note that enforcement during demonstrations is a result of escalated actions by the participants, which may pose nuisance and public safety issues. Since the beginning of the protests, BLRS has been working with organizers to educate them on the city's bylaws."

"As the activities of protesters escalated and became more frequent, including the defacement of property, the use of sound reproduction devices, smoke bombs, fireworks and threats toward our officers, BLRS took action to address these concerns."

"Initially, warnings were issued to individuals regarding the operation of these sound production devices on highways or public places. However, when the activity persisted, fines of $490 were issued."

Roger Chapman, director, Bylaw and Regulatory Services

 

"[Palestinian protesters] have the right to scream. Silencing Palestinian solidarity when genocide is happening is wrong."

"[When the 2022 convoy protest gridlocked downtown Ottawa for three weeks], we talked to the truckers like people. We let them organize."

Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden 

Protesters gathered in downtown Ottawa for the 12th straight week of pro-Palestine rallies. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

The truckers' strike lasted three weeks before policing authorities stepped in to close it down, and lodge formal charges against the organizers when the federal government executed a general emergency state which enabled them to lock protest participants' bank accounts, harass them with lawsuits, while the prime minister called these loyal Canadians 'racists' and scum. These wild and menacing demonstrations by those celebrating the October 7 atrocities in Israel have gone on for 12 weeks, with little-to-no comment from the federal government.

Rather than interfere with the 'free speech' entitlements of Muslim Canadians, authorities look the other way when shouts of 'intifada' and 'from the river to the sea' are chanted, both of which represent a call to the destruction of Israel. Marchers shouting that Canadian Jews, resident in Canada for hundreds of years, unlike those who decry their presence, urging them to 'go back to Europe', and others shouting 'gas the Jews' certainly are exercising their rights that appear to contradict laws against hate speech.

So the City of Ottawa really 'cracked down' on these riotous scum, issuing nine noise-violation tickets for those seen to be disobeying city noise bylaws. Among them a Member of Provincial Parliament using a megaphone in front of the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument. Criminal charges were laid in a few instances when downtown streets were blocked during the Truck Convoy protest. However, no criminal charges were pressed against masked pro-Hamas protesters who issued threats and engaged in violence.

 

Saturday’s edition of the pro-Palestine rally started at the Human Rights Monument before taking to downtown streets. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

 

The Palestinian Youth Movement has been a major organizer of the protests, prepared to support those receiving bylaw tickets. The rally organizers characterize the bylaw tickets as a "clear attempt to suppress pro-Palestinian organizing and support". But they would say that while cheering on vandalism at synagogues and Jewish social centres. According to the noise bylaw, "no person shall operate or  use of cause to be operated or used any sound reproduction device on any highway or other public place".

Regional executive vice-president for the national capital region for the Public Service Alliance of Canada -- one of Canada's largest unions, most of which have taken the political position to support the 'Palestinian cause' -- declared his solidarity with 'pro-Palestinian  protesters; the issuance of tickets represented at attack on their right to protest. "They want to silence and stop our movement. We cannot let this go on", said Alex Silas, recipient of one of the tickets.

While gathered at the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights, protesters banged drums, waved signs and Palestinian flags and chanted "Free free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". What they mean is free to commit bloodbaths on Jewish communities in Israel, and the destruction of the Jewish state, so that the fictional 'Palestine' can occupy all the geography it claims to be theirs, as squatters on Judaean Ancestral land.

This weekend’s pro-Palestinian rally started at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa before taking to the downtown streets. A woman was questioned after being told to bring her drone down on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia