Pro-Palestinian demonstrators say they feel vilified after protest cancels PM event
Organizers of a pro-Palestinian protest that disrupted a weekend reception featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say they're being unfairly vilified.
The event, which was to include Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, was abruptly called off as demonstrators blocked entrances to the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Toronto police said there were no injuries arising from the protest of about 400 demonstrators, and no arrests were made, but investigations are ongoing.
Dalia Awwad, an organizer with the group known as Palestinian Youth Movement, accused elected officials of intentionally vilifying protesters in an effort to avoid talking about Canada's position on the Israel-Hamas war.
"It's also an attempt by politicians to shift the narrative away from the role they have played in the genocide," Awwad said Monday.
It's an attempt, she continued, "to make it so these protests are the issue when the issue is the role that the Canadian state is playing here."
The Canadian government has not stated an opinion on whether Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, a case South Africa has been making at the United Nations' highest court.
The federal Liberals have said they believe in the International Court of Justice as an institution and Israel must do what it can to limit civilian casualties, while condemning Hamas for its attack on Israel.
The war began after the Oct. 7 rampage, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Israeli forces have bombarded the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas since then, and Gaza's Health Ministry says 30,000 Palestinians are dead amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Protests have frequently taken place across Canada in recent months. Both Jewish and Muslim groups warn that they are seeing an increase in hateful conduct, as police report an increase in hate-motivated crimes.
At the protest in Toronto on Saturday, demonstrators blocked entrances to the art gallery and prevented many attendees from getting in. Neither Trudeau nor Meloni entered the venue, which briefly went into lockdown. International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen attempted to enter through the main entrance, but protesters blocked his path and followed him for two blocks as he was flanked by police officers while trying to enter a more secure location.
Some demonstrators confronted Hussen directly, saying it was shameful for him to call himself a Muslim. "You are complicit in the genocide. Your hands are red. You are complicit in the murder of my family members and my friends," one demonstrator said to him.
In a social media post on Sunday, former public safety minister Marco Mendicino described the gallery protesters as antisemitic "thugs."
The gallery "was not secure. And that was their objective. They don’t want their fellow Canadians to feel safe," Mendicino said in a series of posts on X.
"You break the law, you should be arrested, charged and prosecuted. … These thugs think they scored a win last night, but all they did was lose public support and embarrass themselves. Time for the madness to stop."
Amira Elghawaby, Canada's anti-Islamophobia envoy, decried a "constant rush" to portray pro-Palestinian protests as a threat to public safety.
Doing so "is both wrong and dangerous, as are attempts to obscure the facts around why peaceful protests are happening," she said on social media Monday.
Deborah Lyons, Canada's envoy on combating antisemitism, called the cancellation a "direct result of caving in to the irrational demands of an out-of-control and noisy cohort, fuelling their determination."
Michael DeForge, an organizer with the Toronto chapter of Writers Against the War on Gaza, said it was a win amid efforts to seek a change of course from politicians.
He said Trudeau has "complicity in Palestinian death."
DeForge also described Meloni as a "figurehead for far-right nationalism," and someone who "has supported the genocide of Palestinians."
Meloni and Trudeau have both advocated for a two-state solution to the conflict, in which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.
Italy has also worked in concert with G7 countries to advocate against the killing of Palestinian civilians.
A protest outside Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto last month drew wide condemnation from critics who saw the location as a deliberate choice.
In a joint written statement, the three groups that organized the march denied accusations of antisemitism.
"We condemn the Canadian politicians incorrectly portraying the protest as targeting the hospital," the groups said.
Zoe Newman, an organizer with Jews Say No to Genocide, was present during Saturday's protest, and took issue with it being framed as antisemitic.
"It's very troubling to have antisemitism used in a way that alters and twists its meaning," she said in an interview Monday. "Trudeau meeting with somebody whose views are hand-in-glove with antisemitism is not seen as antisemitic, but us protesting is antisemitic."
She said that framing relates back to anti-Palestinian racism that portrays all Palestinians as violent and dangerous.
Newman said as pro-Palestinian protests have been branded as antisemitic, other protesters have appreciated her presence, especially when she's wearing clothing that clearly shows she is Jewish.
"I find it's an incredibly powerful thing at a demonstration," she said. "It can give some people a real sense of safety," especially when criticism of the Israeli government is being conflated with criticism of all Jewish people.
"Having somebody there who is a Jew, and is speaking as a Jew, can help to complicate that narrative."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2024.
IN DEPTH
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6922467.1718138898!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6850735.1713368648!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6941344.1719400735!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
She's still busy at 105. What secrets and science are behind Canada's 'super agers'?
There is ongoing research to better understand the relationship between social connection and healthy aging, and why the brains of super agers look different compared with their peers.
Charges pending after 3-year-old Edmonton boy struck, killed by truck in marked crosswalk
Police say charges are pending after a boy was killed and his mother and sister were injured in a crash in south Edmonton on Thursday.
The new airline rivalries: Air Canada vs. Porter, WestJet vs. Flair
In a country traditionally dominated by two national airlines, a new set of aviation rivalries has emerged. Porter is increasingly moving in on Air Canada's home turf of Central Canada as well as cross-country routes, while WestJet seeks to counter the threat of Flair Airlines in a shift from the decades-old industry dynamic of sparring between the two biggest carriers.
'Lab-grown' meat maker hosts Miami tasting party as Florida ban goes into effect
As Florida's ban on "lab-grown" meat is set to go into effect next week, one manufacturer hosted a last hurrah — at least for now — with a cultivated meat-tasting party in Miami.
Some of the wealthiest Canadians in Canada, according to Forbes
If you gathered all the wealth that billionaires currently have worldwide, you would have about US$14.2 trillion, according to Forbes Magazine. But what about in Canada alone?
Summer hours are a perk small businesses can offer to workers to boost morale
Business owners have found that offering summer hours – a reduced schedule on Fridays, usually between Victoria Day and Labour Day — can be a way to boost employee morale. Workers are able to deal with summer childcare gaps, return to the office refreshed and feel like their job values them, owners say.
'7 years of regret': Raunchy leg piece wins bad tattoo competition at Edmonton Expo Centre
Friday night was a celebration of mistakes for a small group of body art enthusiasts.
Nude beach etiquette: Lose your clothes, not your manners
Most of us have felt the freedom and delight that comes with stripping down to a swimsuit on a sunny day and wading into a cool sea, the horizon twinkling in the distance.
A study identified 6 types of depression. Here’s why that matters
Scientists may be a step closer to that reality, thanks to new research that has identified six subtypes — or 'biotypes' — of major depression via brain imaging combined with machine learning.
Local Spotlight
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6944611.1719580132!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
'I am very proud': Manitoba grandfather and grandson graduate high school in same class
A grandfather and grandson duo proudly graduated alongside each other at the same northern Manitoba school.
'Absolutely amazing video': Basking shark spotted along eastern shore of Nova Scotia
A large basking shark was captured close to the shoreline on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore.
World's largest hockey stick in B.C. to be chopped up, sold to collectors
The world's largest hockey stick could soon become the world's most in-pieces hockey stick as a Vancouver Island community prepares to tear down and carve up the Canadian landmark.
'Hanging on for her life': Sask. family desperate to bring home sick niece from Philippines
For half a decade, a Saskatoon family has been trying to bring their orphaned niece to Canada, they say now it’s a matter of life or death.
'Really disappointed': Painting at Winnipeg Art Gallery found to be a forgery
The Winnipeg Art Gallery- Qaumajuq recently discovered that one piece in its collection is a fake and part of a massive art forgery ring that included more than 1,500 pieces.
Six-year-old Montreal boy triumphs in Canadian math competition
Six-year-old Bruce Arthur Chang is the new grand champion of Canada in the UCMAS math competition, and says he is hoping to make a mark on the international stage.
Halifax icon who wore high heels with pride dies at 86
Harold Brenton Anderson, who wore high heels for decades in Halifax and loved to travel, has died.
This Ottawa 'fat cat' on a weight loss journey has become a TikTok star
An Ottawa cat has morphed into a TikTok star, as he's slimming down from weighing 43 pounds.
'I just really like the sport': Meet the 90-year-old local slo-pitch player still living out his passion
Bill Neald is still living out his passion of playing baseball at the age of 90 in Regina’s Senior Mixed Slo-Pitch League.