Several pro-Israel protesters were violently assaulted and injured by pro-Palestinian protesters at a counter-demonstration in Toronto over the weekend.
Video footage on social media filmed close to the site of the demonstration at Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto on Saturday afternoon showed a gang of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, some masked, violently attacking an elderly man.
The gang threw various objects and beat the man, as well as other victims, with various objects, the video footage showed.
According to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), “a group of protesters bearing a Palestinian flag swarmed and brutally assaulted a small number of pro-Israel demonstrators.”
CIJA said that antisemitic insults were voiced by the perpetrators during the assault, according to witnesses.
At the time, dozens of pro-Israel activists were demonstrating near a crowd of several thousand pro-Palestinian supporters protesting Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip the past week.
“We condemn in the strongest terms these brazen acts of assault, intimidation and hate, targeting members of Toronto’s Jewish community and supporters of Israel,” said CIJA following the incident.
“There is absolutely no justification for political violence in the streets of Toronto, whatever one’s cause may be. To put it bluntly: Those who hate Israel so much that it inspires them to egg and assault their fellow Canadians aren’t just a threat to Jews. They threaten the very fabric of Canadian society.”
CIJA said that the assault was “the latest in a series of alarming incidents over the past week that make it clear anti-Israel activists are seeking to use the current violence in the Middle East as an excuse to target Toronto’s Jewish community for intimidation and hate.”