This isn't Gaza. It's unacceptable to threaten to kill Jews or shoppers
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Published Dec 18, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read
A screengrab from video as protesters rail at Toronto Police at the Eaton Centre.
A screengrab from video as protesters rail at Toronto Police at the Eaton Centre. Twitter
First, they threatened and assaulted Jews.
Then it was Jewish-owned businesses and banks and corporations who do business with Israel.
Then they protested loudly in front of children visiting with a mall Santa Claus.
Now, a video shows, protesters are using words taken as death threats in front of Toronto Police officers.
The more the system allows haters to get away with it, the more hate they bring. But this is a whole new level of insanity.
“You come near me, I will put you lay down on the floor (sic),” said a man in front of an officer.
You can’t talk like that here! This isn’t Gaza.
No, it’s Toronto.
It got worse.
“I will put you six-feet deep,” shouted a masked man Sunday as police stood guard at a pro-Hamas protest inside the Eaton Centre, where dozens of anti-Israel demonstrators gathered outside a Zara franchise owned by a Canadian-Israeli. “If you are a man, come touch me.”
Police said officers were at the Eaton Centre Sunday around 5 p.m., after about 150 protesters entered the mall.
“We can confirm that a demonstrator and another citizen who was at the mall exchanged words, which you see in a video that’s circulating, and officers were keeping them apart,” said police. “At no time were officers threatened, and we are investigating this incident.”
The police statement added that during a “situation like this, when tensions are high and there are large crowds of people,” officers rely on their best judgment, acting to ensure everyone’s safety is taken into consideration.
The mall was very busy with holiday shoppers, and officers used their training to de-escalate the situation and disperse the crowd.
The video, shot by Ron Banjeree, who has in the past been called out for criticism of Muslims, told The Toronto Sun he was not involved in the protest and merely happened upon it while shopping at the mall. Banerjee said none of the comments were directed at him, and beyond filming, he did not engage with protesters.
Meanwhile, sources say, police are looking through body-camera footage to try to determine exactly what transpired.
It’s bone-chilling repugnant. It’s illegal and intolerable.
Things are getting out of control. No one has been arrested so far.
The video, posted on social media and seen around the world, shows several police officers were badly outnumbered at the mall.
This aggressive protester’s deplorable behaviour highlighted a weekend full of organized efforts to support the Palestinian position in the war in Gaza. Mobs also moved into Yorkdale mall and Ottawa’s Bayshore mall.
So what did the mayor of Toronto have to say about this? Nothing.
“Today we recognize transit workers who keep our city moving,” Olivia Chow posted on X, introducing Monday as “Transit Worker Assault Awareness Day.”
What’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on about?
“Good news for parents across Prince Edward Island” as he set up a push for $10-a-day child care.
Premier Doug Ford’s latest post was about being at the “Telugu Business and Cultural Festival in Brampton.”
They are all out of touch. Asleep at the wheel. It’s radio silence from our elected leaders.
You know it wouldn’t be quiet if the police had assaulted a protester, though.
Meanwhile, those behind anti-Israel and anti-Semitic attacks have been given an open road. The political leaders should wake up. We have been telling them that for months.
Anyone uttering threats in front of police, at Jews or anybody else because of their ethnic or religious background should be arrested, jailed, convicted and if they are not yet Canadian citizens, deported.
Of course, none of this will happen.
If not for social media, we may not have even known this took place. But things are happening.
Last week, for the first time, the GTA saw the first children’s protest outside a school in Mississauga and this time a group showed there are no limits by chanting Pro-Palestinian slogans in front of children sitting with Santa at Ottawa’s Bayshore mall.
But it was the incident at the Eaton Centre, steps from the bizarrely renamed Yonge-Dundas Square (to Sankofa Square), that has highlighted just how far this anti-Semitic fever has gone.
And how it has no boundaries — including attacking a Christmas tree. However, using such threatening language in front of our police has got to be the final straw. You let that go, then the protesters are in charge.
Police may still make an arrest in the future. We saw this happen when a Starbucks and Indigo Books were vandalized.
The Hate Crimes Unit has been expanded to 35 members, and they do catch up when crimes are committed. Anti-Semitism is the main concern right now. It’s on the rise and often tolerated.
It’s better to stop it early before it’s too late. In Ottawa, there was a youth arrested for an alleged plot to kill Jews. It’s a real problem right now, and the anti-Jewish smearing and violence is occurring daily.
Those behind it have no respect for the law. Nor fear of it. They know they will be out on bail long before any trucker ever would.
During the pandemic, our political leadership seemed to have no trouble mustering the troops — with police horses as backup — to arrest that Adamson Barbecue guy for breaking into his own locked-by-Public Health restaurant. Jail for him. Jail for pastors who protest on the street, or for Tamara Lich and Chris Barber for their part in the Freedom Convoy on Parliament Hill.
When it comes to the people pushing for an end to the existence of Israel, there seems to be no limits. They can do whatever they want, when they want. And the leaders cower to them.
But not all.
Toronto MP Kevin Vuong, whose own constituency office was targeted for a protest Monday night, said on X, “Our laws must be upheld or they’re not worth the paper they are written on.”
The thugs who think it’s OK to punch in the face a woman like Olga Goldberg for holding a poster of an Israeli hostage think they are above the law.
If police fail to charge the violent hateful criminals who commit acts like punching a Jewish person, just how far will they go?
Stay tuned.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
The more the system lets haters get away with, the more hate they bring. But this is a whole new level of insane.
torontosun.com
apnews.com
