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I guess TA isn't the only place in TO where a battle of opinion wages..
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COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR
Toronto police officers on horses and bikes keep an eye on protesters Jan. 3, 2009 at Dundas Square as emotions heated up over Israel's attacks on Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli marchers face off on Yonge
January 04, 2009
Kenyon Wallace
STAFF REPORTER
Thousands of demonstrators waving signs and Palestinian flags marched in Toronto yesterday afternoon condemning Israel's attacks on Gaza as Israeli tanks and infantry began a massive ground offensive into the territory.
The air was tense as pro-Palestinian protesters of all ages gathered at Yonge and Dundas Square around 2 p.m. Across Yonge St. stood about 200 pro-Israel demonstrators.
Dozens of police on foot, horseback and bicycles monitored the two groups hurling insults at each other. Barriers set up down the middle of Yonge kept them apart.
"The attacks on Gaza are not acts of self-defence on Israel's part. They are the murder of innocent civilians, women and children," said Rafeef Ziadah, an organizer of yesterday's demonstration and a spokesperson for Palestine House, a group representing members of the GTA Palestinian community.
Similar protests were held in Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver.
Traffic came to a standstill as the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, chanting "Free Palestine" from loudspeakers on the back of a pickup truck, marched two kilometres north on Yonge St. to the Israeli consulate on Bloor St. The pro-Israel group took a parallel route up Bay St. to the same destination.
"The argument that Israeli attacks are disproportionate is ridiculous," said Meir Weinstein, national director of the Jewish Defence League in Canada, walking north on Bay St. holding an Israeli flag. "We support the Israeli government's efforts to stop Hamas, stop terrorism and stop terrorist infrastructure."
Hussain Azraq, a wholesaler who came to Canada from the region 22 years ago, urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper not to be afraid to condemn the Israeli attacks.
Lawrence Cannon, Canada's foreign affairs minister, has expressed concern about the attacks, but the federal government says it believes Israel has a right to defend itself.
Azraq, 45, brought his four children. Son Mohammed, 9, said news of children dying in Gaza makes him "feel sore inside. "The children don't deserve to die because they're innocent people."
News of yesterday's ground invasion of Gaza arrived around 2 p.m. Toronto time, but organizers opted to delay the announcement until protesters arrived at the Israeli consulate an hour and a half later. The group then marched down University Ave. and burned Israeli and American flags before the U.S. consulate.
In the pro-Palestinian crowd were union and civil rights activists and a smattering of Jewish Canadians opposed to Israel's policies.
"We've got people here from almost every background supporting the cause. Our numbers are diverse," said Omar Hamid, 24, carrying a platform on which lay the effigy of a dead Palestinian child.
With files from the Canadian Press
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source:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/561412
(video in link above)
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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow
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It's the star people, you don't quote the star.
