TORONTO (June 24, 2017) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) monitored and photographed today's hateful rally.  Young children were used to foment hate and antisemitism against Israel and the Jewish community today at the annual "Al Quds Rally" in Toronto.  The yearly, Iranian-backed Al Quds Day brought with it false claims about Israel while showing solidarity with terrorist organizations and countries that call for the destruction of Israel.

Taking place at Queen’s Park, demonstrators – many of whom were children – raised anti-Israel signs and the flag of Iran, a country that has called for "death to Israel." Signs included comparisons between terrorist group ISIS and the IDF, the Holocaust and situation in Gaza, and falsely calling Israel an apartheid state and committer of genocide.

"Most disconcerting is the usage of children to articulate hate and call for violence.  I cannot imagine almost any scenario in Canada where children call for the destruction of any people or nation state.  Instead, children should be taught to promote peace and co-existence," said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of FSWC.

Much of the protest involved false accusations against Israel, accusations that are used to fuel the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist movement. 

Despite attempts to keep him from entering Canada, Holocaust denier Kevin Barrett was given the opportunity to speak in front of demonstrators. As he’s done in the past, Barrett claimed that the September 11 terror attacks were an inside job of the U.S and Israel and that the Zionist movement was aligned with the Nazi movement. 

Such false claims from speakers continued throughout the protest, including claims that Israel commits more terror attacks than almost any other country in the world – despite the fact that, according to the 2016 Global Terrorism Index, Iraq and Afghanistan experienced the most amount of deaths from terrorism. 

Ken Stone, a known supporter of Iran who has praised the leader of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, spoke in support of terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah – including condemning Israel for attacking members of Hezbollah.

Young children who were singing about Palestine asked the question, “Why do you think little boys are throwing stones?” Such a statement is equivalent to condoning the ongoing attacks Palestinians commit against Israelis. 

Support for the antisemitic BDS movement made an appearance as well, as well as the idea that the root cause of suffering in the Middle East is Israel. Such statements from speakers – met with strong support from demonstrators – once again helped drive the hatred against Israel, the only democratic country in the Middle East and home to more than 40 per cent of the world’s Jewish population.

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