Toronto Police have received criticism for allegedly not fully enforcing a ban on pro-Palestinian protests in Jewish residential areas, despite having announced protest restrictions just last week.
One week ago, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo announced a new ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Jewish residential areas of the city. He said demonstrators and protesters could still attend the Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue area, but can no longer enter residential side streets.
However, just a week later, police were seen escorting a pro-Palestinian protest through that same intersection, past Darchei Noam Synagogue, the Toronto Heschel School, and the L’Chaim Seniors Residence. The protesters shouted chants through megaphones, including “all Zionists are terrorists.”
According to Israel’s consul in Toronto, Idit Shamir, small groups did break off onto side streets to reach Jewish residents more directly. There were no arrests.
Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak, who is Jewish, confirmed that the protesters were walking westbound on Sheppard Avenue “looking for an entry point into the neighborhood to harass the local residents.”
He said, however, that the police “are doing the best they can.”
In one video, a local resident can be heard telling the police, “I don’t know who gives you your mandate, but start enforcing the law,” as pro-Palestine protesters marched down Sheppard Avenue.
However, separate footage did show police, paramedics, and firefighters blocking a residential side street as protesters marched down the avenue.
Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation disappointed in police
The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF) said it was disappointed in Toronto Police’s handling of the protest, saying that despite there being over 200 intersections in Toronto, the protesters went specifically past Jewish facilities and more than a dozen apartment buildings with Jewish residents.
“Their purpose is not to convince the public of the rightness of their message; their purpose is to intimidate Jews,” CAEF added.
“Toronto Police would not tolerate a white supremacist parade up and down Jane St. between Finch and Steeles. So why are Toronto’s Jews required to tolerate a hate parade in the part of the city where we make our homes and community?”
Daniela Bonamico, an organizer of the pro-Palestine group GTA4Palestine, said the ban was “a violation of Canadian Charter rights.”
Toronto Police told The Jerusalem Post that there was never a ban in place on marches through Bathurst and Sheppard, and that the restriction was to prevent demonstrations from entering residential streets in the Bathurst and Sheppard area only. The police, therefore, said the restriction was enforced.
“Officers ensured the group did not enter residential streets, and no arrests were made,” the spokesperson said. “This ban does not apply to lawful demonstrations at the main intersection and along major roadways.”
“Demonstrations have taken place at this intersection for several years. They can be tiring, disruptive, and distressing – but that does not make them illegal. Demonstrations are protected under Canadian law, and enforcement action is taken when there are reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence has occurred,” the spokesperson concluded.