"Unless Colin can point to specific instances of Palestine solidarity protests becoming criminal, he should not be mentioning the protests that started in response to Israel’s genocide. It has no relevance to this topic other than to parrot the Israeli state narrative that these protestors are antisemitic."
To the Globe and Mail newsroom,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (www.cjpme.org) regarding your news article titled: “New counterterrorism unit helped arrest suspect in shooting targeting Jewish-owned restaurant, Toronto Police say.”
In the article, Colin Freeze makes several statements that closely link the protests against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians with antisemitic hate crimes when there is no credible connection between the two.
He says:
"The force announced the counterterrorism unit’s creation last month as it faced pressure to respond to a string of suspected antisemitic hate crimes in Toronto. Police have reported a recent increase in such crimes, including shootings targeting Jewish schools and businesses. Cities across Canada have seen regular anti-Israel protests since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel’s invasion of Gaza."
Protests are grassroots means to pressure a government to put an end to a particular armed aggression. An analysis of the Palestine solidarity protests has shown that over 96 per cent of pro-Palestine protests were entirely peaceful. It furthermore highlights that while the movement posed virtually no physical threat to the public it was nonetheless treated as dangerous, with police enforcement escalating dramatically out of proportion.
In short, the report concludes that Palestine protests are over-policed and non-violent.
By contrast hate crimes are by their very nature abusive and rooted in societal biases against specific groups. Shootings targeting Jewish schools and businesses is an example of a hate crime and so is the genocide taking place in Gaza. We should be protesting all hate crimes.
Colin goes on to say:
"Toronto Police have also stationed heavily armed officers in front of religious sites and prohibited a long-standing anti-Israel protest from spreading into a nearby Jewish neighbourhood."
The Palestine solidarity protests referenced in this article, at Bathurst and Sheppard, have only passed through residential areas 2-3 times in the past two and a half years, as documented in Toronto Star reporting without incident.
According to a report on crime released by Statistics Canada on July 22, 2025 (cited in the Canadian Jewish News), police-reported hate crime incidents against Jewish people decreased 4 percent in 2024 from the number reported in 2023.
While no number of hate crimes is acceptable, it would seem that this is yet another example of the state mobilizing an unprecedented apparatus of surveillance, inter-agency coordination, and militarized policing to contain a movement that challenges its foreign policy.
Unless Colin can point to specific instances of Palestine solidarity protests becoming criminal, he should not be mentioning the protests that started in response to Israel’s genocide. It has no relevance to this topic other than to parrot the Israeli state narrative that these protestors are antisemitic.
I am requesting that you remove the following sentence from the article:
“Cities across Canada have seen regular anti-Israel protests since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel’s invasion of Gaza.”
I would appreciate a response to my request.
Sincerely,
Nikki Mutch
Media Advocate
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East