BURST
Threats of “Danforth takeover,” a planned anti-Israel protest in Toronto’s east end is “just a way to harass Israel and the Jewish community,” says Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak.
“We’ve been putting up with this lawlessness for close to two years, and as long as there’s minimal consequences, it will continue,” he told National Post on Tuesday over the phone. “These threats against city critical infrastructure are very serious, whether it turns into a hoax or not.”
He called on police and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to ensure public safety in a social media post on Monday.
Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak condemns threats of a “Danforth Takeover” by pro-Palestinian groups and urges Toronto Police and TTC security to ensure safe public access to all subway stations and City of Toronto infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/EdnTleW8FA
— James Pasternak (@PasternakTO) August 11, 2025
Anti-Israel protests have been widespread around the world particularly after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people. It triggered a war in the Middle East that is still ongoing.
The protest is being organized by “pro-Palestinian groups,” Pasternak said. It is set to start at 5 p.m. and estimated to last until 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The plan is for protesters to “bring signs, pots and pans” to make noise with at every subway stop from Kipling to Main stations on the Bloor-Danforth line. The group is demanding “an immediate arms embargo” and an end to “Canada’s complicity” in the war.
On Aug. 2, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand said in a statement that Canadian-made weapons will not be allowed “to fuel this conflict in any way.”
“Canada continues to deny any export permits for materials that could be used in Gaza,” the statement said.
In a report by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism , the potential protest in Toronto is listed as high risk. The protest is being organized by East End Acts with involvement from other groups including World BEYOND War Canada, Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto, Palestine Solidarity Network, Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East. They have more than 137,000 followers on Instagram combined. The protest is intended to be part of the “Arms Embargo Week of Action” in Toronto. Organizers for the protest did not immediately return National Post’s request for comment.
“(The protest’s) extended footprint across multiple public transit nodes increases potential disruption to pedestrian and vehicular movement in a densely populated area,” says the report. “While there are no explicit calls for violence, the confrontational tone and location in busy public corridors present a risk of clashes with passersby or counter protesters.”
City councillor Brad Bradford said he agreed with Pasternak’s concerns in a post on X on Monday .
“Threats to shut down transit are dangerous and unacceptable,” he wrote.
In a news release on Monday, East End Acts reacted to Pasternak’s condemnation, saying his “characterization of our actions, subsequently restated by Councillor Brad Bradford, constitutes a deliberate misrepresentation designed to shut down and scare people in Canada who are deeply horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
On Tuesday morning, MP for Eglinton-Lawrence Vince Gasparro, appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary (Combatting Crime), shared a letter addressed to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on X.
He said the planned “demonstrations today threaten to shutdown access to transportation infrastructure while widening divisions between our communities.” In the letter, he noted the escalation of “hatred and intimidation” toward the Jewish community since October 7.
Gasparro said he was “ready to facilitate any federal support the city may need to protect our infrastructure while combatting crime and antisemitism.”
Both the TTC and Toronto Police Services are aware of the planned protest.
“As with any public demonstration, our priority is to ensure public safety and keep disruptions to a minimum. Officers will attend to monitor the situation and respond to any issues that may arise,” Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer told National Post in an emailed statement. She said police are in contact with the TTC.
Similarly, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green told National Post that its Special Constables are in contact with the police and “will be ready to respond accordingly to ensure everyone is kept safe and that our service can continue without disruption.”
He continued: “The original post indicates it will be on the street and not on our property and the organizers have confirmed this. The safety of our customers and employees is paramount to all we do.”
Pasternak stressed that people trying to use the subway “have every right to do so without harassment and without feeling threatened.”
“We have to protect the rights of people just wanting to go about their daily life and peace and security right,” he said. “This visceral hatred for Israel is infecting the wider society. There are currently 100 wars going on in the world. And people come to Toronto to escape world conflict zones, to escape demonization, harassment, prejudice and intolerance. They don’t want these fights played out on the streets of Toronto.”
Josh Landau, Director of Government Relations, Ontario at the at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said that it warned “that extremists would be emboldened at home and abroad” after Prime Minister Carney’s “premature plan” to recognize Palestinian statehood.
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen attacks in Montreal with a Jewish father beaten in front of his children and one of Canada’s oldest synagogues in Victoria desecrated with vicious antisemitic graffiti. And now we’re seeing violence and intimidation in public spaces in Toronto,” he told National Post in an emailed statement.
“We urge leaders at every level of government to confront extremism — whether at home or abroad — as well as urgently boost Jewish community security, and ban the glorification of terrorism in our streets. And it is our firm expectation that the authorities enforce the law and ensure everyone’s safety.”
Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at Holocaust education and Jewish advocacy group Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the right to peaceful protest is “justly protected” in Canada, but “should never be abused to infringe on the rights and safety of others.”
“Especially since Oct. 7, anti-Israel protesters in Toronto and elsewhere have repeatedly created hazards, blocked access to streets and public spaces, and incited virulent hate – tactics that intimidate rather than inspire dialogue,” she said in an emailed statement.
“Blocking or disrupting safe access to public transit, especially during rush hour, is an act of intimidation not just against the Jewish community but against all Torontonians simply trying to get home to their families. Canadians’ right to move freely and safely through their city should never be compromised to make a political point.”
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