TORONTO (JTA) — The Canadian Jewish Congress called for investigations into possible human rights violations arising at recent pro-Hamas rallies in three Canadian cities.
CJC says it has "exposed" video and photographic "evidence" of what it believes is incitement to hatred and violence by anti-Israel demonstrators in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. The group wants the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local police forces to investigate.
"Everyone has a right to peacefully protest," CJC Chief Executive Officer Bernie Farber told a news conference Wednesday in Toronto. "No one has a right to vilify and demonize. What is frightening, and possibly illegal, is the hyped-up rhetoric that has increased in hate over the last 10 days."
Representatives of the CJC and the Canada-Israel Committee played video footage from rallies that they said "should shock all Canadians."
One picture showed four men standing with an Israeli flag giving the Nazi salute in Calgary. In another, someone in Montreal held a sign that read "Israelis are the Nazis of the 21st century."
In one video, allegedly shot at the Jan. 10 rally outside the Israeli Consulate in Toronto, a woman screams, "Jewish child, you’re going to f—ing die."
"What we see is a dangerous trend in importing what’s happening in the Middle East into our communities, into our streets," said Sara Saber-Freedman of the Canada-Israel Committee.
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