A protest by anti-Israel demonstrators in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood this past Shabbos has stirred controversy, particularly due to the actions of the local police. The incident occurred when protesters blocked the Avenue Road Bridge of Highway 401, a crucial access point to the Armour Heights area, leading to the closure of the major junction by police.
What has sparked debate and criticism is footage showing police officers delivering coffee to the protesters. This gesture by the police in apparent support for the demonstrators is causing concern among critics who believe the protest aimed to intimidate the local Jewish community, especially as it took place on Shabbos.
This approach by the Toronto police stands in stark contrast to their response to the truckers’ protests two years ago, which saw arrests and freezing of supporters’ bank accounts.
Rebel News editor Ezra Levant commented on the situation, highlighting the blockade’s location: “They’re blockading a Jewish neighborhood, and it’s not the Hamas thugs that’ll stop you — it’s the cops.”
Similar anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests have occurred in other North American cities, including Seattle, Washington. There, protesters recently shut down Interstate 5, a major highway, to draw attention to the situation in Gaza and U.S. support for Israel. The Seattle police and the Washington State Patrol responded but did not disperse the group or make arrests.
The Toronto protest, however, has garnered particular attention for its perceived targeting of the Jewish community and the unusual level of support shown by law enforcement. The incident also came in the wake of an apparent antisemitic attack on a Jewish-owned grocery store in Toronto, which was set on fire last week.
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10 Responses
Maybe the cops were breaking up the mob by sending them to the bathroom.
Maybe they were trying to poison them by bringing coffee from Tim Hortons! (Canadian humour!)
Not the 1st time that Toronto police have acted too despicably even for words.
In the early days of Corona shots when there was tremendous scarcity {even more scarce in Canada than America or Britain who were capable of manufacturing this vaccine but Canada too incapable to manufacture this vaccine} the police despite being young people gave themselves eligibility right of way to receive this vaccine before the elderly vulnerable population were allowed to receive this urgent vital vaccination.
I don’t think this is fair to the Toronto Police – I live in Toronto in one of the main frum neighborhoods, and since the beginning of the conflict the police department set up a mobile command station in our neighborhood, regularly patrols the neighborhood and shuls, and have been so friendly and supportive whenever we have had a concern. This video shows a scene of a protest, and the police would not let someone through who was trying to deliver the protestors coffee, so the police carried the coffee inside for them. Jumping on the police force like this for such a mundane act I think is uncalled for, and the kind of thing that can hurt our friendly relationship with a police force that has been incredibly supportive in our city.
The good news is, Justin Trudeau made sure all Canadians are fully vaccinated.
And so history repeats itself.
Goodbye North America.
I LIVE IN TORONTO AND AM ABSALUTELY DISGUSTED TO HEAR THIS
The police are fine. It is the government that sucks. Trudeau alls these protests to continue because he supports them. When he doesn’t support protests (the truckers), he has no probably invoking martial law to stop it. And the trucker protests were less widespread and less violent than these pro-terror protests. For all Trudeau’s rhetoric (which can come out on either side of the fight, depending on who he is speaking to), he is as much a believer in ‘free speech’ as Harvard University is!
KTYO”s comment, if true, shows how bad YWN’s reporting is.
Am i the only that watched the video. the cops aren’t giving them coffee, they were preventing someone else from joining in the protesters and did so by delivering the coffee that guy wanted to deliver…