COPS FINALLY PUSH BACK ON ANTI-ISRAEL MOB

They’re used to having their own way.

Not this time.

This time Toronto Police pushed back. Hamas supporters aren’t accustomed to being told “no” by police, or being physically removed – but that’s what they experienced last Wednesday night. What happened outside the Munk Debates at the Meridian Centre at Front and Yonge Sts., was long overdue.

In fact, this wild scene outside the debate – which had a former Israeli president and senior Israeli leadership inside on stage – sent the message loud and clear that perhaps Hamas is losing its grip of control on Mayor Olivia Chow’s Toronto.

Police charged two people – one of whom will be going to court.

This scene outside the Old O’Keefe Centre was heated. About 200 pro-Palestine protesters moved to the front of the building, which was hosting a Munk debate that featured former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and former justice minister and potential future Israeli PM Tzipi Livni. They were debating the positive aspects of a two state solution in the region, while former justice minister Ayelet Shaked and former Israeli ambassador and current PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s minister Michael Oren pushed against.

But those outside were complaining that there were no Palestinians on the stage and calling for the arrest of some of the participants to put them on trial before the World Court for Israel’s response to the Oct. 7th, 2023  sneak attack that saw more than 1200 Jews slaughtered and 240 kidnapped.

We’ve seen in Toronto many protests and street shutdowns since then, and this one was as raucous as any of them. Police were presented with a challenge – and were up to that challenge. In fact, at one point when they felt the demonstrators were getting too close to the building on a shutdown Front St., using Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), police gave them five minutes to back away.

When they didn’t police moved forward and pushed many of the defiant protestors back to the line where they were supposed to be. While some of it got rough, police were restrained and didn’t lose control. In most cases, they moved people to where they wanted them and then let them go.

That included several protesters who breached security and got into the event but were removed by officers.

It was a well-handled, measured response. Credit where credit is due. Police should do this more often when protesters are closing down streets and impeding regular passage. The success of this shows what they can do and also sends a message to protesters to understand that they aren’t the boss. These professional protesters expect to rule the scene, but in this case, were rocked by the pushback that they don’t normally face when they march into a Jewish neighbourhood or shut down a street in front of the Israeli consulate or Union Station.

And they weren’t happy about it.

Calling them “war criminals,” one pro-Palestinian woman argued that the Munk Debates allowed in people who are “banned” from other parts of the world and this event was designed to “manufacture consent for the occupation of Palestine,” adding: “You are not welcome here.”