Five demonstrators were arrested during a pro-Palestinian Arab rally in Toronto on Saturday.
The arrests came during a march commemorating “Land Day,” which marks the day in 1976 when Israel began assuming control in the Negev and Galilee. During the rally, protestors called for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and sanctions against Israel.
As per CityNews, law enforcement arrested five individuals at Parliament and Gerrard Streets for “various criminal code offenses,” but they have not yet disclosed specific charges. In addition, police also detained the driver of a truck that towed a trailer through the downtown march for allowing people to be in the bed of the truck and attached trailer while it was in motion. Despite prior warnings of the violation by officers at the scene, the truck driver did not cease their activities.
Anti-Israel sentiment and acts of antisemitism in Toronto have been on the rise since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel.
In November, an Indigo bookstore in downtown Toronto was vandalized with red paint, accusing its Jewish owner of “genocide. In January, a Jewish-owned grocery store in Toronto was vandalized with the words “Free Palestine” and later set on fire, and in February, an anti-Israel protestor scaled the city’s Mount Sinai Hospital with a Palestinian flag.
