Terry Newman: No Boxing Day joy for you, say anti-Israel mall protesters

Are some protesters more equal than others?

Published Dec 27, 2024  •  3 minute read

Shoppers at the Eaton Centre in Toronto, Wednesday December 14, 2022. Photo by Peter J. Thompson /TBA for National Post

Yesterday, as shoppers were returning unwanted presents, revelling in Boxing Day sales and enjoying the Christmas tree light show at the Toronto Eaton Centre, a group of anti-Israel protesters disrupted the joyful experience by harassing bargain-hunters and unfurling a large banner with a crude likeness of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the words “arrest this criminal” emblazoned in red. Like the twisted image of Netanyahu, and the chants that filled the mall, nothing these protesters say or do is to be trusted.

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It was 4 p.m. when the large blue and white Eaton Centre Christmas tree started to play music, lighting up for shoppers and their families to enjoy. That enjoyment was quickly drowned out by an increasingly aggressive chant of “free, free Palestine.” But free them from what? Not Hamas, apparently, who many claim Palestinians are simply a victim of, yet whose recently deceased leader has been championed in Canadian streets.

So, being in the wrong place at the right time, I took out my phone to capture what was happening.

As I approached the area near the tree, I saw a man and woman circling an upper balcony, throwing flyers over the railing to the level below, where families were gathered. Popular anti-Israel greatest hits ensued, including: “from the river to the sea,” “while you’re shopping, bombs are dropping,” and “there is a genocide happening with our tax dollars.”

Well then. While spreading these lies, protesters rely on the fact that many Canadians aren’t particularly well-informed about Israel’s many attempts to achieve a two-state solution, Palestinians’ history of bloody rebukes and the Hamas mission statement which, spoiler alert, doesn’t include Jews. Hence, the “from the river to the sea” jingle.

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These protesters would like Canadians to believe that Israel is indiscriminately dropping bombs, killing babies and committing genocide. Strange. You’d think genociders would know better than to alert their victims by dropping flyers and making phone calls to clear innocent civilians from areas. Worst genociders ever.

And the claim shouted at mall denizens, that our tax dollars are funding Israel — is blatant disinformation. Quite the opposite is happening. The Liberal government has blocked any military supplies to Israel, even via the United States. Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly saw to that herself.

Finally, these chants were followed up with the threat, “if we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace.” Well, the not getting peace has been clear for a while now, but what of this talk of justice?

Of course, these protesters weren’t at all interested in advocating for the justice or freedom of the hostages taken on October 7 while many of their family members and friends were murdered, raped and burned while in their homes or at a music festival, with some lifeless bodies, bent and broken, being paraded around in vehicles by monsters celebrating their barbaric acts.

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These protesters know that many Canadians, quite reasonably, would like to put an end to violence everywhere. Therefore, they know they can make those who are hunting Hamas terrorists look like the aggressors in the eyes of Canadians who just want peace.

But why were Canadians subjected to this at the Eaton Centre, a downtown Toronto landmark, in the first place? It’s one thing if anti-Israeli protesters demonstrate in the streets. But this was private property. Security personnel kept the protesters under close observation but made no attempt to stop or evict them. I reached out to the mall’s general manager for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.

Interestingly, Cadillac Fairview, which is owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, shut down its Ottawa mall, the CF Rideau Centre, within hours of the start of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests by truckers. Curious.

National Post

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