I am writing on a peaceful sunny afternoon after more than a week of agitation and worry about today’s Al Quds Day rally in front of the US Consulate in Toronto, which was recently attacked by gunfire along with several area synagogues.  The offenders have not yet been caught.

Like many in our community fighting anti-semitism and hatred, I have been worried deeply by recent community developments and the continued inability of our law enforcement and political leaders and legal system to see reason to prohibit this Al Quds Day rally.

There have been many photo ops and press conference statements of local politicians and police attesting to the special protections they will have in place for this event on one of Toronto’s key downtown streets, in close proximity to area hospitals and financial infrastructure and our Ontario legislative buildings and Toronto City Hall.

Many earnest Jewish citizens and advocacy groups did their best to lobby their local politicians and met with our Ontario Premier.  In a municipal election year, there were many bold statements about attempts made to seek a court injunction blocking this rally in the interest of community safety, but the courts found otherwise.  This has now become a media victory for the other side, echoed over and over across news outlets.  See these reports:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-al-quds-decision-9.7128964

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/al-quds-event-premier-doug-ford-anti-israel-protest-incites-jewish-hatred

https://www.cp24.com/local/toronto/2026/03/14/toronto-al-quds-rally-underway-after-judge-dismisses-ontario-governments-injunction-bid-to-stop-it-from-happening/

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/al-quds-rally-can-go-forward-rules-ontario-judge-after-denying-ontario-request-for-injunction

This rally is objectionable in celebrating pro-terrorist groups who have often glorified violence and Iranian-related proxy terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and have displayed their symbols freely over many years.  There were two arrests at today’s demonstration, with details to be provided by police at a later date, according to Toronto Police.

The current state of our Ontario politics, even after the recent attacks on Toronto synagogues and those in Michigan and internationally, is such that our legal system and academic systems and members of most mainstream media outlets value ‘free speech’ even for terrorist supporters (excusing this as peaceful advocacy for Palestine or the people of........

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