Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the celebrations occurring in the wake of attacks on Israel by terrorists are “disgusting.”
“The hate rallies celebrating the kidnapping and slaughtering of innocent Israeli people by terrorists are reprehensible and disgusting. They have no place in Ontario. Now more than ever, we stand with Israel and affirm its right to defend itself and its people,” Mr. Ford wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 8, following videos on social media of Ontario locals cheering the attacks.
A number of celebratory rallies began late in the evening of Oct. 7, after the Hamas terrorist group claimed responsibility for a surprise attack on Israel that Israeli media reported has killed more than 350 people as of late that day.
On the morning of Oct. 7, Israel was attacked by Hamas, which launched land, air, and sea attacks against the country. Terrorists also targeted civilians in the Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces says Hamas has taken hostages, including both Israeli soldiers and civilians, women as well as children, and dragged them into Gaza.
Events in Canada, Other Countries
In one video filmed in Mississauga, Ontario, and posted to X, a pickup truck filled with young men can be seen waving Palestinian flags and honking and cheering in support of the Hamas attack on Israel.Another video shows men driving through the streets in Toronto in vehicles, waving Palestinian flags, cheering, and chanting “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase that has a range of uses, from being employed as a call to prayer to being used as a rallying battle cry, according to Forward, a non-profit Jewish news site.
Still another video shows men waving Palestinian flags at an overpass in Toronto, identified as the Roncesvalles Pedestrian Bridge. Supporters on the bridge can be heard yelling, “Free, free Palestine,” reported Rebel News.
A poster advertising the celebration by “toronto4palestine” said: “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm has begun. The occupation continues to cross our red line.”
“A banner drop is happening today to honour and celebrate the resistence [sic] and continued solidatiry with the Palestinains [sic] living under occupation,” it added.
A poster from the Palestinian Youth Movement calls for a Toronto protest to take place on Oct. 9 at Nathan Phillips Square called “All Out for Palestine.”
Conservative MP Michael Cooper said on X on Oct. 8 that he was “horrified to learn of a celebration of Hamas’ atrocities against Israeli civilians scheduled in Castle Downs,” which is in Mr. Cooper’s riding in the Edmonton north area.
Another celebration took place in downtown Montreal on Oct. 8, with supporters waving Palestinian flags and where chants of “down, down Israel” can be heard from the large crowd.
Similar celebrations have been underway in support of the terrorist attack on Israel in other countries such as London, UK; Berlin, Germany; and parts of the United States, including in front of the White House on Oct. 8 and on Times Square in New York on the same day.
