Vancouver police are investigating recent protests supporting the terrorist group Hamas that involved the burning of a Canadian flag.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said recent protests marking the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel last October involved acts that were “intolerable, offensive, and unsafe.”
“These acts include people burning a Canadian flag, making inflammatory comments about various nations, including our own, and expressing solidarity with terrorist groups,” VPD said in an Oct. 8
statement on the X platform. “We have heard from community members, and others, who are deeply offended.
VPD said it has launched an investigation “into the actions of protesters to determine if criminal offences occurred.”
The terrorist group Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in the death of an estimated 1,200 people, including
seven Canadians, while over 200 others were taken hostage. Shortly after the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas and fighting has continued since, spreading throughout the Middle East.
Videos circulating online show protesters at an anti-Israel rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Oct. 7 setting a Canadian flag on fire. The crowd cheers as a speaker shouts, “death to Canada, death to the United States, and death to Israel.”
MPs from across party lines have condemned the actions at the rally, which was
organized by the group Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. In addition to advocating for Palestine, where Hamas is based, speakers at the rally also expressed support for Lebanon, where Hezbollah, another terrorist organization, is currently engaged in military confrontation with Israel in solidarity with Hamas.
At an
Oct. 8 press conference, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre condemned the Vancouver protest and urged the government to list Samidoun as a terrorist entity and ban the group from operating in Canada.
Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani
criticized the Vancouver rally in the House of Commons on Oct. 8, saying, “We unequivocally condemn those events and those actions. It is absolutely unacceptable to burn the Canadian flag and to chant ‘death to Canada.’ It is also unacceptable to deny and celebrate the events of Oct. 7 and to champion the acts of a terrorist group.”
During the same sitting, Independent MP Kevin Vuong reiterated his earlier request for the federal government to ban Samidoun and arrest its leader, Khaled Barakat, who he noted is also involved with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is
listed by Public Safety Canada as a terrorist organization.
The PFLP seeks to dismantle the State of Israel and establish a communist government in Palestine. It is known for employing bomb attacks, assassinations, and other violent activities to achieve its objectives, according to Public Safety Canada.
“The people at Samidoun have shown us who they are, and one of the things they have shown us is not only that they hate Jews, but they hate Canada and Canadians,” Vuong said, asking why Barakat is allowed to continue his activities in Canada while being banned from entry by Germany and several other European countries.
Several Conservative MPs, including Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, also called on the government to ban Samidoun and urged stronger protections for Jewish communities in Canada.
In response, Liberal MP Jennifer O'Connell, who serves as parliamentary secretary to the public safety minister, said that the minister has referred the listing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity to national security advisers and requested an urgent emergency review.
