Protestors chant “From the river to the sea” at Thornhill, Ontario kosher store owners
A group of protestors have been filmed gathering outside a series of kosher establishments in Thornhill, Ontario chanting “From the river to the sea” while waving Palestinian Authority flags.
The chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — and its replacement with a State of Palestine — and is thus an attempt to deny Jews, uniquely, the right to self-determination, which is a breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism.
In another video, a protestor shouts, “Shabbat Shalom b****es” while waving her middle finger at store owners.
The MP for Thornhill, Melissa Lantsman, took to Twitter to decry the protestors.
Ms Lantsman wrote that “This is NOT anti-Zionism – it’s a blatant act of #antisemitic hate which must be condemned by everyone.” She further tweeted: “You don’t come to a Jewish neighbourhood and yell antisemitic tropes if it isn’t about hating Jews.”
A video recorded by the co-Director of the group Canadian Defenders for Human Rights (CD4HR), Aliya Hasan, presenting events from the protestors’ perspective, showed the group confronting the Israeli store owner, only for one of the protestors to be overheard demanding of the store owner if he thinks that he is “One of G-d’s chosen people”.
Ms Hasan has often been criticised for her online posts relating to the alleged influence of Jews and “Zionists” on politics. This includes one notable post featuring an octopus with a Star of David symbol and a letter “Z” (for Zionist) on its head and its tentacles wrapped around the Capitol building. Each tentacle bore the initials of a Jewish organisation. The caption read: “Dear Americans, Sorry to break it to you, but America is under occupation and Biden and the Democrats won’t change that. Sincerely, The rest of the sane world.”
Ms Hasan has also shared a well-known piece by the inflammatory cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, which appears to compare Israel’s policies to those of the Nazis. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
A recent audit shows that antisemitic incidents in Canada have drastically increased. Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on antisemitic incidents throughout Canada.
