Community holds rally after Jewish girls' school shot at over the weekend in Toronto
The local community held a rally in support of a Toronto Jewish girls' school that was shot at this weekend, but one notable public figure failed to show up. In the early morning on Saturday, two black-clad men fired five shots into the Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School in North York, reports the National Post.
🚨Another attack on a Jewish institution today in Toronto. A Jewish girl's school is the latest target. Two men opened fire, shooting 5 rounds at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School. Can we be surprised that violence escalates when there is no deterrence following antisemitic… pic.twitter.com/KcSULlG8yl
— CG Idit Shamir 🎗️ (@ShamirIdit) May 25, 2024
On a rainy Monday, public figures were among the hundreds of Jewish and non-Jewish supporters who came out to show their support for the girls' school after the antisemitic attack.
Mayor Olivia Chow, who has appeased neither the Jewish community nor the anti-Israel crowd, was heckled prior to delivering remarks at the event.
WATCH: Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is heckled by the community before she gives a speech to a crowd outside of a Jewish girls' school that was shot at over the weekend.https://t.co/iAWKHLz6Mr pic.twitter.com/sgkI0ndZxg
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 27, 2024
Chow said she had spoken with school administrators about keeping the building safe in the wake of the attack. In November 2023, another Toronto Jewish school was evacuated following a bomb threat. A similar shooting of a Jewish school in Montreal led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect, Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed.
Rebel News boss Ezra Levant was at the event, where he challenged Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner over the province's failure to prosecute antisemitic attacks.
Ezra Levant challenges Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner over his lack of prosecution of antisemitic attacks against the Jewish community.https://t.co/iAWKHLz6Mr pic.twitter.com/zwwRj1yXC6
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 27, 2024
“This is something you'll have to speak to the Attorney General [about],” Kerzner replied. “What I can tell you is, I'm working every day [to make sure that] our legislation, our regulations are adhered to.”
Levant described Kerzner's reply as “weak” in a follow-up on social media.
I asked Ontario’s Solicitor General, @MPPKerzner, why they haven’t prosecuted the Hamas crime wave. He said he “speaks out” and “wears his kippah and told me to talk to someone else — even though prosecutions are a provincial jurisdiction.
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) May 27, 2024
Weak.
pic.twitter.com/HlmWtTKNod
Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod, who represents the Ottawa riding of Nepean, gave a speech condemning the attack and saying these sorts of rallies show Canadians oppose antisemitism.
“We believe in democracy, and the only democracy in the Middle East is Israel,” MacLeod said. “We should stand up to terrorism, and the last time I checked, Israel is at war with a terrorist organization named Hamas.”
Ontario MPP Lisa MacLeod delivers a passionate speech to a crowd ralling outside of a Jewish girls' school, Bais Chaya Mushka, which was shot at over the weekend.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 27, 2024
MacLeod praises Israel's democracy and says, "we should stand up to terrorism!"https://t.co/iAWKHLz6Mr pic.twitter.com/zBEqfuWQqe
Kevin Vuong, a former Liberal MP who now sits as an Independent, was also on hand, where he told Levant the Liberals have let down the Jewish community following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack against Israel.
Liberal MPs have been “missing in action when it comes to the Jewish community in our city,” Vuong stated. “The fact that they continue to turn a blind eye on it, is disgraceful and shameful.”
One rallygoer told Levant how the local Liberal MP, Ya'ara Saks, was at the beach this weekend yet failed to show up for the rally.
“We see a lot of the same faces time and time again,” she explained. “And we see the absence of other faces time and time again. I think that speaks volumes.”
Saks previously found the time to travel to the Middle East, where she met — and held hands — with Mahmoud Abbas, alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.
“Abbas has a long history of Holocaust denial and has spread the conspiracy theory that Israel perpetrated the Oct. 7 terrorist attack committed by Hamas,” reported the National Post. “His Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank also pays allowances to families of terrorists killed in attacks out of a ‘martyr’s fund.’”
Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. ET on RebelNews+ for a special edition of The Ezra Levant Show from the rally.