Thousands gather in solidarity with Israel at North York rally

Thousands of people have gathered at Mel Lastman Square in solidarity with Israel in the aftermath of a weekend of violence in the Middle East.

"We call for the hostages who were seized in this vile, horrific attack to be released immediately," said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking at the rally organized by the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. "We unequivocally condemn the terrorist attack by Hamas. And let me be very clear, as the Prime Minster has been: the glorification of terror has no place in Canada. That is not who we are. That is not what Canada is. There is no space for that here in our country."

Police from Toronto, York and Durham regions, as well as the OPP, are at this evening's rally, creating a barrier between the demonstration at Mel Lastman Square and a surge of pro-Palestinian counter-protestors.

In an email to CP24, Toronto police said four people had been arrested as of 9 p.m. on Monday, though it is unclear if charges have been laid. Police said the evening demonstration was "relatively peaceful."

An earlier, pro-Palestinian demonstration at Nathan Phillips Square was organized by the Palestinian Youth movement. By 3 p.m. there were hundreds of people flooding the square, spilling out onto Queen Street. By the time they started to march towards the Israeli embassy, the crowd had grown to an estimated 1,000 people.

Participants waved flags and held signs saying “stand with the Palestinian resistance” while chanting “Palestine will be free.” Multiple participants told CP24 the attacks and continued violence is their people’s attempt to stand against an occupation of their land.

Some demonstrators also appeared to speak out in favour of the actions of Hamas, which has been classified as a terrorist organization.

As a result of the demonstration, police reported rolling road closures in downtown Toronto, particularly on Bay Street. 

Toronto police deployed a “very large” presence at both demonstrations and said on Monday that members of the force’s hate crime unit were on the ground monitoring activity.

“While the Toronto Police Service will be present to ensure lawful demonstrations, we want to be very, very clear that we will not tolerate intimidation, harassment or hate motivated behavior aimed at specific communities,” Pogue said. “Our city has experienced hundreds of lawful and peaceful demonstrations over the last year, and we are hopeful that will be the same today.”

“But again, we want to be clear that anyone whose behavior crosses the line from lawful demonstration to criminality can expect to be arrested, either at the event or in the days to come.”

Pogue said that as of Monday morning there is no specific concern for public safety. Officials added that anyone who encounters any hateful actions should find a police officer and report it.

“You can also photograph what you see and share that. But we will have that physical presence on the ground. You can contact those officers.”

Tensions in the local Jewish community have been high following the surprise attack by Hamas, which came on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot over the weekend. The attack saw militants storm into Israel, killing young people at a music festival and families in their homes and also hauling away girls and elderly people to Gaza as hostages.

Israel has retaliated with a bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Around 900 Israelis and 500 Palestinians have been killed since the attacks began on Saturday morning.

Locally, there's also been outrage online over celebrations held by some Palestinian groups over the weekend in the wake of the attacks.

One group called Palestine4Toronto called on its members to celebrate the attacks by waving Palestinian flags over the Roncesvalles pedestrian bridge over the Gardiner Expressway Saturday, while a coffee shop in Mississauga held a party into the night, with people dancing on cars and eating cake.

Premier Doug Ford called the celebrations “reprehensible and disgusting” Sunday and said they have no place in Ontario.

Two city councillors — Brad Bradford and James Pasternak — also called for the unpermitted Nathan Phillips Square demonstration to be blocked in an open letter, arguing that it would violate city policies by promoting hate. 

In a statement posted to social media, Mayor Olivia Chow said that Monday’s pro-Palestinian rally was an unsanctioned event in support of Hamas and she condemned it.

“The Government of Canada has rightly listed Hamas as a terrorist organization and we simply must not tolerate any support of terror, full stop,” Chow said in her statement. “The rally to support Hamas at Nathan Phillips Square today is unsanctioned, without a permit and I unequivocally denounce it. Glorifying this weekend's indiscriminate violence, including murder and kidnapping of women and children, by Hamas against Israeli civilians is deplorable.”

She said she is receiving regular updates from Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw, who has promised to address and investigate any suspected incidents of hate.

Chow’s office confirmed she would be attending the rally at Mel Lastman’s square in support of the Israeli people.

Later on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "strongly condemned" demonstrations taking place in support of Hamas.

"The glorification of violence is never acceptable in Canada by any group or in any situation," he said. "Let's stand united against acts of terror."

Toronto police say they have a responsibility to ensure everyone’s charter rights and freedoms are upheld, despite the fact that no permit has been obtained for the demonstration.

“We are there recognizing that people have a right to gather and to peacefully protest,” Pogue said. “We will be there to ensure that as people show that we are there to keep that peace and certainly will pursue any acts of hate crime if that if that occurs.”