Toronto antisemitic protest probe widens with two more arrests

Images of antisemitic signs shared by X user Leviathan (@l3v1at4an) during an anti-Israel protest Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. West in Toronto on Sunday. Eight people have now been arrested with an investigation into this demonstration. Photo by @l3v1at4an/X

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Canadian Jewish advocacy and rights organizations welcomed the arrest of two more people in connection with an antisemitic demonstration in Toronto earlier this year, saying “there must be consequences for promoting hatred.”

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The Toronto Police Service announced Saturday that two additional suspects had been charged with the willful promotion and the public incitement of hatred on March 15, bringing the total number of people charged in the months-long investigation to eight. 

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“Governments and authorities must hold criminals accountable,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said in a statement on X, tagging the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and B’nai Brith Canada. 

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“And our political leaders must ensure their words and actions do not embolden extremists who demonize Israel and contribute to an increasingly hostile environment for Jewish Canadians. 

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Police allege that the accused retrieved antisemitic signs from a storage locker before attending a protest at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West that Sunday and allegedly displayed the signs in public as they marched toward a group of pro-Israeli demonstrations while shouting derogatory slurs.

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Some of the signs, as reported by National Post at the time, featured a caricature of an emaciated Orthodox Jewish man exiting a cave, asking whether “Iran has stopped” yet, a drawing of a caricatured Jewish man wearing a kippah crying “Help us, Daddy!” into a walkie-talkie covered in an American flag as three missiles rain down in the background, and one of rats crawling in and out of a hole in the ground shaped like the Star of David. 

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On Friday, members of the hate crime unit executed a search warrant and arrested two additional suspects from Toronto — Shahram Nayeb-Yazdi, 63, and 40-year-old Daniela Bonamico — both of whom were scheduled to appear at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Saturday.

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In its statement, CIJA alleged the latter “has imported a foreign conflict into Canada and taken her campaign abroad through the so-called Gaza Flotilla — a PR stunt that did nothing to help Palestinians.

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On the flotilla coalition’s website, Bonamico describes herself as “the daughter of Italian immigrants born into a civil war torn and occupied village” who has been a “multidisciplinary artist” in Toronto for 20 years. 

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Police previously announced charges of willful promotion and public incitement of hatred against six other people in connection with the investigation, starting with Torontonian Muhammad Anas Sial, 33, in April.

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In June, Hosaam Hemdan, 19, Omer Turcan, 43, Yasaf Skaikh, 46, Hasan Aydin, 47, all of Toronto, along with Whitby’s Syed Hussaini, 43, were also hit with the same charges. Hemdan, Turcan, and Hussaini were also charged with disguise with intent.

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Antisemitic signs shared by X user Leviathan (@l3v1at4an) during an anti-Israel protest at Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. West in Toronto. Photo by @l3v1at4an/X

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Police noted that when an alleged criminal offence is believed to have been motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, prosecutors can seek to have the motivation considered an aggravating factor at sentencing if the accused are convicted.