JDL dancers counter the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War

                                                                               'On concrete'

Demonstrations: Toronto Coalition to Stop the War 'All out for Gaza' & Jewish Defense League's Counter Protest

August 10th 2014 #180Bloor Street Toronto 

Zach Ruiter @EnviroPunk zruiter@gmail.com

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all photos were taken stealthily with an iPhone 

And we're back to Middle-East tensions playing out on Bloor Street West in Toronto.  I've lost track of what round we are on.  

I started with a visit to the JDL counter protest on the north side of Bloor, outside the Israeli Consulate. The atmosphere was festive until Judy Rebick's voice blasted from across the street in front of the Royal Ontario Museum.  

Here's a 45 second video with dancing.  

I took my iPhone camera into a gaggle of JDL techno dancers, the vibe was bumpin' like a Tel Aviv beach rave mixed with an episode of Electric Circus, folks enthusiastically danced for my camera.  The scene recalls viral images of Israelis on a hill sitting in lawn chairs catching the light show as bombs explode over Gaza. I can't include all the footage of their dance moves because a young women and her mother asked me to not include their images, they soon after realized how bad the optics were and I took this as a good sign.  Agreeing to not include the footage was also an opportunity for me to demonstrate my good faith in continuing to report on the many sides of these protests.  (Also thanks to Ron B.) 

A higher quality version of this video can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/eXrtQH6stL8

Back to what Rebick said:

"I am Jewish....[JDL side boo's in disapproval]... the meaning of 'never again' is 'never again' for anyone, for anyone.  I am here as a Jew standing against this slaughter because when the Nazis slaughtered the Jews no-one stood with them except communists no-one stood with them, this country turned away a boat load of refugees, we can't do it again"

The boat load of refugees denied entry into Canada was the St. Louis, with their options exhausted, hundreds of Jews on board headed back to Europe and perished in the Holocaust.  

When Rebick started a chant, "Free Free Palestine", the JDL chanted back "Free Gaza from Hamas". 

In a previous interview for NOW Magazine, Rebick told me "When Canada and the United States turned their backs on Jews in the Holocaust its because the Jews were othered, the Nazis turned the Jews into non-people and that’s what they [Israel] are trying to do now in Palestine"

The All Out for Gaza demonstration then marched along Bloor to Yonge and down to Yonge and Dundas Square and then dispersed.  The JDL didn't follow. 

                                                             'Peace sign'

                                                      'Festive moment'

                                                                                                     'Sight seeing'

                                                                                  'Being a mensch'

                                          'Reflecting architecture'

                                                     'By the numbers'

                                                                                              'See the emperor'

                                                                                                         'Super fly'

                                                                                  'Socialist Action Canada'

                                                                                                             'Family'

                                      
                                                                                                      'The beyond'

                                      
                                                                                      'Hussein Palestine, 13'

                                      
                                                'Hanna - Canadian Voice of Women for Peace'

Check out the Toronto story in these previous photo-essays:

Photos: Toronto Israeli Consulate Die-in "organized by grassroots Jewish Women"
http://enviropunkto.blogspot.ca/2014/08/blog-post_8.html

Toronto Families Stand with Gaza and Canadians for Israel Demonstrate
http://rabble.ca/news/2014/07/photos-pro-palestine-and-pro-israel-protests-collide-queens-park

Demonstrations: Free Palestine and Jewish Defense League at Queen’s Park
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=199024

Demonstrations: the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and the Jewish Defense League’s demonstrations
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=198860

Photos: Toronto Israeli Consulate Die-in "organized by grassroots Jewish women"

Israeli Consulate Die-in "organized by grassroots Jewish women"

August 8 2014 #180Bloor Street Toronto 

Zach Ruiter @EnviroPunk zruiter@gmail

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Fighting resumed in Gaza this morning after a 72 hour cease-fire and Toronto motorists on Bloor Street were inconvenienced by a die-in outside the Israeli Consulate.  

From the organizers' press release:

Canada - STOP arming Israel...

Many Canadian companies including Alphacasting Inc., based in St-Laurent, Quebec, manufacture key components for the weapons systems used by the Israeli military to harm innocent Palestinian civilians.  In 2012, the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) invested $3.2m in Israel Chemicals Ltd., a company that extracts uranium for Israel's nuclear weapons and DU (depleted uranium).