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Sometimes you can’t believe your eyes.
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First, there was a shocking display of support for Hamas terrorists in Mississauga by a protester flaunting gold machine-gun earrings.
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Then came the arrival of a pickup truck with occupants flying Taliban flags.
Even some condoning the “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chants knew it was too much and asked men in a truck to tuck them away.
Even some condoning the “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chants knew it was too much and asked that the men in the truck tuck their Taliban flags away.
While Peel Regional Police said “the protest remained peaceful,” there was nothing peaceful about some of the messaging from terrorist sympathizers.
While police noted “the organizers asked the demonstrators waving the Taliban flags to leave” and officers “were not involved,” the damage was done.
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And the message was sent.
Those who support heinous acts of terror are free to express it – even as Jews mourn their dead and Canadians reflect on the fact the Taliban murdered 158 Canadians in Afghanistan.
A woman wearing a headscarf bearing Palestinian colours, a “don’t give up the gun” martyr T-shirt and large gold AK-47 earrings declared Hamas was right to slaughter more than 1,300 civilians and kidnap a 199.
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“Every single thing they have done is justified,” a woman named Essra Karam told Rebel News reporter David Menzies at Celebration Square at City Hall.
Karam, whom The Toronto Sun has not been able to reach, explained “Hamas is not a terrorist group” but a “a resistance that has been fuming for 75 years of colonialism, of occupation, of murder, of rape of little children, of women.”
She said the terrorists were kind to their victims.
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“There is evidence of Israeli women saying that, ‘They gave us water, they gave us food, they gave us a place to sleep comfortably, they gave us clothes,’ — they got them to cover up out of respect,” she said. “This is actual women having interviews, talking about when they were hostages, or when Hamas members coming into their house. Even at some point, a Hamas fighter told one of the women, ‘Can I have a banana to eat?’ He asked if he could have a banana in her home. Does that sound like a terrorist to you?”
It does.
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“Over the last 10 days, we’ve seen hate rallies and public statements trying to justify the actions of Hamas,” said Premier Doug Ford. “There is no justifying the kidnapping and butchering of innocent Israeli citizens, including children and the elderly. Celebrating these actions are disgusting, and they have no place in Ontario. Ontario will always stand firm in our support for Israel and the Jewish people.”
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What does Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie have to say about this and the anti-Israel narratives being pushed at the “Gaza Plaza” protests on Eglinton Ave. and Ridgeway Dr.? On a leave of absence while campaigning for the Liberal leadership in northern Ontario, I held this column back a day to give her a chance to respond.
Crombie said Monday that “I strongly condemn Hamas’ recent terrorist attacks and any action or gathering, clothing or paraphernalia that celebrates the murder and kidnapping of civilians,” and that “any action that glorifies Hamas or another listed terrorist organization is entirely unacceptable in our province.”
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Filling in for her as acting mayor, Councillor Chris Fonseca said her position is clear that “any gatherings or protests that seek to divide our city and promote hate or violence will not be tolerated.”
Fonseca also wrote “City of Mississauga Municipal law enforcement officers and Peel Regional Police are aware of the recent activities occurring at this plaza, including rallies, some of which celebrated the violence happening the Middle East” and “I strongly denounce any protests or gatherings that condone violence or glorify the loss of innocent lives as a result of this conflict.”
There’s just too much of it going on in the GTA right now.
For example, there were graffiti attacks on a mosque in Toronto’s east-end, a Hamas flag at last Monday’s Toronto protest and an anti-Semitic slogan written on a building in Etobicoke’s Centennial Park over the weekend which said “attack the Jew.” Police have made an arrest in the first one and are investigating the other two incidents.
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Needless to say, this is concerning.
“The continued presence at rallies across the country of the flags of listed terrorist entities demonstrates that these rallies are not as advertised,” said B’nai Brith research manager Richard Robertson. “They are not being used to encourage peace, but rather are serving as sites of convergence for those who wish to promote hate.”
Like Mississauga saw Saturday.
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