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Toronto police escorted an anti-Israel protest through a Jewish area of the city last week, moving past a synagogue, a Jewish school, and a seniors’ residence just days after announcing new limits meant to prevent demonstrations from targeting those neighborhoods, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Deputy Chief Frank Barredo had introduced the policy earlier last week. It barred protests from entering residential side streets in Jewish areas while permitting activity along major roads. Officials framed the move as a response to mounting concern. Repeated demonstrations, they warned, were crossing into direct intimidation of Jewish residents.
Within days, officers accompanied a march along Sheppard Avenue. The route passed these sites, central to Jewish communal life. Protesters used megaphones to chant, including “all Zionists are terrorists.”
According to Idit Shamir, smaller groups broke away from the main march and entered nearby side streets. This brought demonstrators closer to Jewish residents. No arrests were reported.
Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak said the movement of the crowd indicated clear intent. Protesters moved westbound while “looking for an entry point into the neighborhood to harass the local residents.” Video from the scene showed a resident confronting police and demanding enforcement of the new rules.
The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF) condemned the police response. The group noted that demonstrators chose a route that brought them past Jewish institutions and over a dozen apartment buildings with Jewish residents, despite the availability of many other intersections across the city. “Their purpose is not to convince the public of the rightness of their message; their purpose is to intimidate Jews,” the organization said.
Toronto Police have not explained why the march proceeded along this route. The gap between policy and enforcement remains clear — and so do the questions about whether Jewish residents are being protected in practice.
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