Israeli supporters and Palestinian activists faced off at the Israeli consulate in Toronto on Thursday, with supporters of controversial groups on each side.
Among the anti-Israel protesters were more than ten individuals wearing inverted red triangles, several socialist flags, and one man brandished an Islamic Regime of Iran flag.
The inverted red triangle is a symbol used by the terror group Hamas, which governs Gaza, in its war propaganda videos to mark Israeli military targets.
The flag of the Islamic regime in Iran also notably has connections to terrorism, as its military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been listed as a terrorist entity in the last sitting of Parliament.
The Israeli side had individuals wearing the Jewish Defence League jackets, a group associated with the Kahanists, a group banned as a terror group by both Israel and the U.S.
Many of the supporters in attendance wearing the pro-Hamas symbol were white women.
There was an air of concern among some Israeli supporters about the location of the protest. Just weeks prior, two Israeli embassy workers were killed by a man who shouted “Free Palestine” in Washington, D.C.
Police lined the streets with a more dominant presence on the Palestinian side, which at its peak had around 200 supporters, compared to the Israeli side of the street, which had only about 30.
Before the anti-Israelists set up their microphone, which was much louder than the Israeli side of the street, a man identified to True North only as “Bob,” who wore a JDL jacket, spoke over a loudspeaker.
He disputed the anti-Israel narrative known as the Nakba, noted Israel’s support for gay rights and affirmed that Jewish people in Israel would not leave the region.
Some of the chants heard by the anti-Israel side included “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” and “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.”
“They chant, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. That’s ethnic cleansing, and it’s calling for the eradication of all the Jews,” Avie Esakov, an Israeli-South African-Canadian, told True North on the scene. “And by the way, on the Palestine, on the Hamas charter, it calls for the death of all the Jews. No exceptions.”
One young lady in a hijab on the microphone also called for “settlers to go back home” and other calls to “decolonize” from “Palestine to Turtle Island.” Turtle Island is a term used by Indigenous people, meaning Canada before colonization.
Other Jewish Canadians have noted the similarities between “there is only one solution” and the “final solution” – the Nazi German plan to eradicate the Jewish people. The last intifada in the Israel-Palestine conflict, known as the Second Intifada, was a period marked by terrorist attacks targeting civilian locations in Israel.
Esakov told True North the anti-Israelists on the microphone were also leading chants in Arabic asking their God to send “Shahids,” meaning martyrs, which Esakov said in the Israeli-Palestinian context means one willing to die in the act of killing Jews.
One Israel supporter told True North that she allegedly also heard the protesters leading a chant in Arabic, which translates to “From the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab.” The exact phrase was allegedly said by students at Harvard University in the U.S. last year.
There was no violence, though as the Palestinian flag-waving side of the street embarked on a march through the city, heated exchanges were had, and one individual broke through the police ranks to confront the Israeli supporters. A masked protest marshal eventually removed him as Bob called for the man to be identified by police for hiding his identity at a protest.
Bob, a Jewish Defence League supporter, told True North that his group is controversial because they take a stance which is skeptical that there could be a two-state solution and peace with Palestinians run by Hamas.
He said he was afraid to give his name because individuals such as Charlie Hebdo, Salman Rushdie and Theo Van Gogh have all been killed by extremists for criticizing Islam, which he did frequently over the microphone.
He called on Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow to stop dancing and celebrating while anti-Israel protesters were allowed to take control of the streets and call for the death of Jews.
Bob was also critical of Canada’s immigration regime, which he says is importing people who go against liberal values such as human rights for gay, trans people and women.
“We need immigrants, but why do we bring in immigrants who openly hate Jews and Christians and gays?” he said. “There are two gay pride parades in Israel, that’s more gay pride parades than in all 50 Islamic nations.”