'We're not facing it alone': Record crowd joins Toronto Walk with Israel as antisemitism surges

National Post
An estimated 60,000 people attended this year's Walk with Israel in Toronto, according to the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

Another record-breaking crowd clad in blue and white and waving Israeli and Canadian flags marched along Bathurst Street in Toronto Sunday for the annual Walk with Israel, a celebration of community that organizers and participants said also served as a show of solidarity against mounting antisemitism in Canada.

The UJA Federation of Greater Toronto said Toronto Police Services estimated this year’s attendance at 60,000, eclipsing last year’s tally by about 4,000 people and “making it the largest turnout in the event’s 57-year history.”

“It’s been a fabulous day,” UJA chief development officer Sara Lefton told National Post earlier Sunday as the sea of people left Temple Sinai Congregation and headed north to the awaiting festival on UJA’s Sherman Campus.

“Lots of allies, lots of members of the Jewish community. The mood is certainly very celebratory and strong.”

Also present in larger numbers this year, as promised by Deputy Chief Frank Barredo on Friday, were police officers charged with keeping the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protesters at bay as they flanked the walk or set up outside barriers to hurl insults and obscenities at participants.

A group of roughly 35 protesters got very close to the participants as they passed the intersection with Canyon Avenue, but more police quickly responded to push them back away from the walkers.

A large Toronto Police Services presence kept the small group of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protesters away from Sunday’s Walk with Israel

At one intersection, volunteers use a large Israeli flag and others to create a wall obscuring the protesters from view, though their chants and shouts could still be heard.

TPS said four people were arrested at the event — a woman for allegedly obstructing a police officer before the event began, a man alleged to have assaulted another officer , a woman for alleged breach of the peace , and a man who allegedly operated a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) , who was fined under Canadian aviation regulations.

Another man was later arrested for alleged assault near Bathurst and Wilson Avenue.

Lefton called the police presence “remarkable.”

“I think that so many people out walking is just an indication of how we feel about what the police have been doing for us and to support us,” she said.

Lefton said participation from allies outside the Jewish community was “way beyond” what they’ve witnessed in past years and serves as “a tremendous source of hope” that others believe in fighting hate and extremism in Canada.

Visible amid the fluttering flags were several Iranian standards from the rule of the deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, according to National Post photojournalist Peter J. Thompson.

Among the participants were approximately 30 Indigenous representatives from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, including several former and current Chiefs, Grand Chiefs, and leaders.

“What we witnessed today was an extraordinary expression of solidarity, Jewish pride, and hope,” UJA president and CEO Adam Minsky said in a press release.

“Tens of thousands of people chose to come together publicly and proudly in support of our community, our values, and our connection to Israel.”

“What we witnessed today was an extraordinary expression of solidarity, Jewish pride, and hope,” UJA president and CEO Adam Minsky said in a press release following Sunday’s Walk with Israel in Toronto.

This year’s walk is happening against the backdrop of ever-increasing acts of antisemitism and hate against Canada’s Jewish population, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area. Synagogues have been vandalized, Jewish people have been assaulted, and the community at large has been the largest target of police-reported religious-based hate crimes.

Lefton said the intensifying antisemitism has led to schools conducting multiple lockdown drills and “indoor recesses because of security threats,” things that make the community feel isolated.

“So I think even more, a moment like this, a moment like today, where we actually can celebrate and feel the strength of coming together as a community and a broader Canadian society, is incredibly important to isolation and make sure that we’re not facing it alone,” she said.

It also comes on the heels of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech last week at a Toronto synagogue, where he said antisemitism in Canada has reached levels “not seen in the post-war period” and that the nation is “failing Jewish Canadians.”

He announced a federal advisory council to examine the causes of antisemitism, improve hate-crime data collection and evaluate government policies on education, prevention and community safety.

Carney, nor any federal party leader, appeared to attend Sunday’s walk, but the Conservative Party of Canada was represented by Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsmand, and fellow Toronto MPs Roman Baber, Jacob Mantle and Anna Roberts.

Liberal MPs Vince Gasparro, Ali Ehsassi and Leslie Church also attended.

“No Canadian should ever feel unsafe for who they are or how they worship. Combatting antisemitism is a responsibility shared by every level of government and part of our society,” Gasparro, the parliamentary secretary combatting crime, wrote on X.

It also appears Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also opted not to participate.

On hand for the province was York Centre MPP Michael Kerzner.

“ I am inseparable from our Jewish community and Israel, today and always,” he wrote on X.

Toronto mayoral hopeful Brad Bradford also attended, along with his family.

“We walk for peace, justice, pluralism, and the right of every person to thrive in a Toronto that is welcoming, tolerant, and safe for all,” he wrote on X.

Jewish civil rights group Tafsik said the huge turnout proves that the majority of Jews are Zionist.

“ The tiny few ‘Jews’ who don’t stand with Israel and are not Zionist aren’t even a ‘fringe’ minority,” it posted on X. “They are totally non existent. Microscopic in numbers.”

https://x.com/CIJAinfo/status/2063681921775788172

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

nationalpost.com