Those Harper Conservatives really know how to turn up the rhetoric! First of all some dimwit thought it would be appropriate to have a rally in support of Israel on the lawn at Queen’s Park. The participants would have been smarter to stay in their comfortable rocket-free homes in Toronto and buy more Israeli bonds.
But you can hardly have a rally at Queen’s Park without greetings from the Prime Minister (of Canada?). Sure, Prime Minister Harper has never seen a mob he disliked. To be safe though, he sent Toronto MP John Carmichael to read an incendiary letter. There were the expected roars of approval when the MP read that Hamas’ reprehensible actions require Israel to defend itself. It seems that Mr. Harper stands four-square for Israeli soldiers killing civilians and children in Gaza. That was it for calming troubled waters or easing the tensions in Queen’s Park.
It seems that some people who might disagree with the killing in Gaza found out about the peaceful Jewish rally. Many of these people strongly disapproved of war and some might have had relatives trying to live in Gaza. These people decided to show their own flags and to shout a lot. Luckily the Toronto Police made a demarcation line down the centre of the park so that the various protagonists could shout obscenities at each other but no touchy was allowed.
This worked fairly well until one young jerk arrived carrying a placard that looked like an Israeli flag with the Nazi swastika replacing the Star of David. Obviously the Toronto Police on site did not seem to understand the legal or practical definition of ‘Incite to riot.’ The news media did and the cameras had their pic of the day. A stalwart, reported to be from the Jewish Defence League, took understandable exception to this placard and crossed the line of demarcation and proceeded to physically remonstrate the young gentleman. At this point a police officer interceded and took the young gentleman and his stupid placard from the scene. We are told no arrests were made.
What should have happened is that cooler heads in the Toronto Jewish community should have realized that no good would come of this event and it should have been discouraged. They should also have recognized that greetings from the Prime Minister would be nothing more than pandering for the Jewish vote and it should also have been discouraged. And the rest of us, who might disapprove of killing on any grounds, would like everyone involved to go home, in peace.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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