Toronto mayor condemns pro-Palestinian protest that 'targeted' Jewish-owned restaurant
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow condemned a protest outside of a Jewish-owned business in Toronto over the weekend, alongside public officials who called it an “appalling” and “reprehensible” act of antisemitism.
Videos posted online Saturday show hundreds of protesters waving Palestinian flags outside of Cafe Landwer at University Avenue and Adelaide Street while chanting “boycott.”
Protesters wave Palestinian flags outside of Cafe Landwer at University Avenue and Adelaide Street in Toronto Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.
“Targeting a business in this way is wrong. There is no place in our city for antisemitism, Islamophobia, hate, intimidation and harassment of any kind,” Chow said in a social media post on Monday.
Cafe Landwer, which has six locations in Toronto, said in a statement to CTV News Toronto on Monday that its primary focus is the safety of employees and patrons, along with upholding an “inclusive atmosphere that embraces individuals from diverse backgrounds.”
The video surfaced after demonstrators marched in a pro-Palestinian rally through downtown Toronto on Saturday as the Israel-Hamas war entered its second week.
One of the videos posted to Instagram was paired with the caption “zionist cafe boycott” and showed one participant waving a flag in the window of the restaurant as patrons sit at a booth eating a meal.
“I urge everyone in our city, through all the pain and anger so many are feeling right now, not to lose sight of our common humanity,” Chow said, pointing to the city’s recent increase in hate incidents. Since the war began with Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the daily average of hate-related police calls in Toronto has increased by 132 per cent, Toronto's police chief said last week.
Toronto police said there were no arrests at the protest.
The restaurant targeted, Cafe Landwer, was “singled-out” for the fact that it is Jewish-owned, MP Kevin Vuong told CP24.
Moshe Landwer originally opened the coffee shop in Berlin in 1919, and moved it to Tel Aviv a decade later to escape the Nazi regime, according to the restaurant’s website.
“That’s not just. That’s not right. It’s an indefensible act of antisemitism and anti-hatred and it must be condemned,” Vuong told CP24 on Sunday.
He called the protest a “slippery slope” that will propagate hate if it is not stopped.
City councillors Josh Matlow and Brad Bradford also condemned the incident.
Matlow said he hopes everyone – no matter their politics or ideology – can agree that harassing a Jewish business and justifying Hamas’ terror attacks is “fundamentally wrong,” while Bradford called the rally “appalling” and “reprehensible.”
“We must stand with the Jewish community in the face of this reprehensible antisemitism,” he wrote on social media. “A commitment was made to ensure the community feels safe. Now is the time for action, not words.”
CP24 and CTV News Toronto reached out to the restaurant for comment but has not recieved a response.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING B.C. carjacking suspect sped across U.S. border before arrest, police say
Authorities have arrested a suspect who allegedly carjacked a pickup truck in B.C.'s Lower Mainland then sped across the U.S. border, triggering a massive police response.
Ottawa has sold its stake in Air Canada: sources
Two senior federal government sources have confirmed to CTV News that the federal government has sold its stake in Air Canada. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the government purchased a six per cent stake in the airline for $500 million as part of a bailout package.
Premiers disagree on whether Canada should cut off energy supply to U.S. if Trump moves ahead with tariffs
Some of Canada's premiers appeared to disagree with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on his approach to retaliatory measures, less than a day after he threatened to cut off the province's energy supply to the U.S. if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat of punishing tariffs.
'Very concerned': Crews search B.C. ski resort for missing man
Police and rescue crews are searching for a man who was last seen boarding a ski lift at B.C.'s Sun Peaks Resort Tuesday.
Man who set fires inside Calgary's municipal building lost testicle during arrest: ASIRT
Two Calgary police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in an incident that saw a suspect lose a testicle after being shot with an anti-riot weapon.
Travis Vader, killer of Lyle and Marie McCann, denied day parole
The man who killed an Alberta couple in 2010 has been denied day parole.
Blizzard warning shuts down large parts of midwestern Ontario
It was a day to stay home, if you could, across much of midwestern Ontario due to weather.
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
According to court documents, detectives reopened the cold case in 2017 and then worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet's partial femur, before sending the results to Identifinders International.
McDonald's employee who called 911 in CEO's shooting is eligible for reward, but it will take time
More than 400 tips were called into the New York Police Department's Crime Stoppers tip line during the five-day search for a masked gunman who ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.