Security tight, marchers on hand at today’s “Measure with Israel” event in Toronto

TORONTO — Thousands of members of Toronto’s Jewish community marched through the streets of Toronto on Saturday as part of an annual pro-Israel event that is taking place amid heightened security and multiple protests.

The United Jewish Appeal holds its annual “Walk with Israel”, which involves a five kilometer walk and festival in the north end of the city.

The marchers, who were expected to turn out in record numbers, waved Israeli flags and carried posters of those taken hostage during the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the latest war with Israel.

Toronto police said they were aiming to “avoid confrontation” by designating certain areas for those planning to protest the event and warned that anyone engaging in criminal behavior would be arrested. Officers from numerous other police forces are also in attendance and a large section of Bathurst Street has been blocked off for the march.

In the first hour of the walk, marchers encountered two groups of protesters, with police at one point directing a bus parked nearby to prevent demonstrators from viewing the event. Dueling chants of “free, free Palestine” and “bring them home” rang out as the groups crossed paths.

One of the pro-Palestinian groups encountered along the march route declined a request for comment.

Noah Shack, of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto, says “tens of thousands” are expected to attend this year’s event as a show of resilience in the face of “an explosion of hate” directed at the city’s Jewish community since the beginning the most recent one. war.

Among the participants in the “Walk with Israel” are several people whose family members were taken hostage by Hamas.

Several groups representing Jews who oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza are urging community members to sit with students at a pro-Palestinian camp on the University of Toronto campus this morning.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press