Toronto's massive Quds Day rally a slap on Zionists' face

A Contributor from Toronto

Ramadan 28, 1440 2019-06-02

Daily News Analysis

by A Contributor from Toronto

Several thousand people from all walks of life packed the streets of Toronto for the annual Quds Day rally in Toronto on Saturday June 1.

Speakers included members of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities that repeatedly emphasized that the rally was not against the Jewish people but against the racist ideology of Zionism.

The Zionists have been trying desperately hard to equate criticism of Zionism and Israel with anti-Semitism, a charge vigorously denied by all speakers at the rally.

And there was ample proof of that. There were rabbis from Neturei Karta present at the rally. Neturei Karta is a group of Orthodox Jews that reject Zionism and oppose the creation of the Zionist State of Israel on the land of the Palestinian people.

Other speakers of the Jewish faith included Suzanne Weiss, a Holocaust survivor and human rights activist, and Ken Stone of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, a long-time peace activist.

Muslim speakers included ICIT director Zafar Bangash, former Canadian Arab Federation vice president Ali Mallah and young student and poet, Nasim Askari. Young Hussein Mojtahedy led the slogans between speakers.

Christian speakers included Robert Massoud, a Palestinian from Zatoun House, lawyer Dmitri Lascaris, who ably represented al Quds Committee at Toronto City Hall against Zionist attacks, Stephen Ellis, another lawyer who also read the statement of Rabbi Stern who could not speak because he was observing the Sabbath, and Ted Schmidt, a former Catholic Zionist who after discovering the true nature of Zionism denounced it.

Leary Charles of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers also delivered a powerful message on behalf of the 54,000 members of CUPW. Canadian author and social activist Yves Engler also addressed the rally.

The vast array of speakers effectively refuted the vicious Zionist propaganda that has been hurled at annual Quds Day rallies for years.

This year’s rally was no different. Sue-Ann Levy who writes for the local pro-Zionist rag, the Toronto Sun, was furious when she alleged why the Quds rally was allowed to proceed despite a Toronto City Council motion of May 14 that said no “hate rallies” would be permitted on city property?

Using blackmail, the Zionists had pressured the Toronto City Council to pass the so-called hate motion. But Quds rallies are not about hate; they are about expressing solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people.

Of course, this excludes the Zionists’ fertile imagination that brands everything critical of Israel and Zionism as ‘hateful’ and ‘anti-Semitic’.

Ms Levy allegation that Quds rally organizers had not obtained a permit to hold the rally, was a lie. That is not unusual.

No permit is needed to hold a rally in a public place as long as the police are notified.

She also demonstrated poor math skills (or indulged in more lying) when she alleged there were about 500 participants at the rally.

The rally stretched more than 1/2 kilometre when participants marched north on University Ave and turned east on Dundas Street toward Bay Street.

The rally organizers had coordinated closely with the police and even determined the route of the march in advance.

The Sun reporter conveniently ignored the fact that Zionist JDL thugs were also in the street--and without a permit-- hurling profanities at Quds rally participants.

Do the Zionists own Toronto that they decide who can and cannot hold a rally? It takes chutzpah. But that is to be expected from them. They are trying to turn Toronto into Tel Aviv. We must not let them do so, ever.

The Toronto Quds rally was part of 800 rallies around the world that are held annually on the last Friday or Saturday of Ramadan.

The growing popularity of al-Quds rallies is causing deep anxiety among Zionists and their supporters, hence their hysterical allegations.

As awareness about Zionist crimes against defenceless Palestinians increases, it will hasten the day when this racist ideology will be consigned to the dustbin of history and peace restored in the holy land for people of all faiths.