Chris Selley
National Post, Jan. 8, 2024
“What the pro-Palestinian protesters want from Canada, the only things Canada can provide, they have already received: Official calls for a ceasefire, and expansive freedom to make their voices heard.”
“Ceasefire now!” protesters shouted at Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Sunday afternoon, as she attempted to host a New Year’s levee and skating party on the rink in Nathan Phillips Square, just outside City Hall.
It didn’t work. The event was scheduled for two hours, but within 30 minutes Chow was reportedly escorted into City Hall and city staff were ordering everyone off the ice, protesters and skaters alike.
Chow called two months ago for “the immediate and unconditional return of all hostages and a ceasefire.” Not shockingly, neither that nor the federal government’s support for a ceasefire at the United Nations has made a dent at Israel Defense Forces headquarters. But nor does it seem to have remotely satisfied the pro-Palestinian protesters still taking to Canadian streets.
Instead, here in Toronto, the protesters’ tactics seem to get uglier the more they get what they want.
When they began targeting Jewish-owned businesses, there was usually some fig-leaf justification on offer.
It’s not that restaurant chain Cafe Landwer CEO Nir Caspi is Jewish, you understand; it’s that he is too proud of his service in the Israel Defense Forces. It’s not that espresso-bar chain Aroma is owned by Jews, heavens no; it’s that it has a location in Ma’ale Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It’s not that Indigo CEO Heather Reisman is Jewish, how dare you even suggest it; it’s that her HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers funds scholarships for non-Israelis who enlist in the IDF. We didn’t mean to protest that Jewish daycare centre; we were trying to protest Chrystia Freeland’s constituency office across the street and, well, maybe some of us got lost.
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