Update: Welcome Right Girl readers! Thanks for stopping in! Oh, and, I’m up for coffee on Friday.

Below, I mentioned the “Israeli Apartheid Week” at U of T this past week. The culmination of the events was to take place on Saturday afternoon - a rally promoting a boycott of Chapters-Indigo, as, they supposedly support the IDF.

I made it over to the event, which occurred outside the Indigo on Bay and Bloor, and snapped a couple of shots. First the photos, and then some comments.

Plenty of police on hand, as you will see.

Somehow, the argument is made that the Chapters -Indigo Company is a partner with the IDF. That made me want to buy a book.

I was a little disappointed that the protesters occupied the side of the street with Tim Hortons. End coffee apartheid. Then again, there is a Starbucks inside Indigo…so, no big loss.

The photo above, and below, show signs that I have seen before.

And, there was a small, very small, counter-protest. They handed out flyers about the new mosque being built in Toronto, by a radical Imam. I arrived a little late, and wasn’t able to join them for too much. But, admiration goes to them.

A couple of thoughts:

The protest was pretty small. Maybe 100 people. If the news covers it, expect them to say that there were like 800 people there or something. But, there weren’t. Maybe 100.

Also, after attending a few of these now, it occurs to me that the same people come out to them. The woman leading the chanting, standing in the back of that pickup, I have heard her voice before. Unmistakable. She was, I believe, chanting at the pro-Hezbollah parade around Queen’s Park last July, and possibly at the Anti-Israel rally on Bloor last August. Also, some of the signs that appear in the photos above are recycled. I mean, if you have a good anti-Israel sign, why let it go to waste? So, I don’t know what that means…not recruiting a whole lot of new people maybe? That’s hopeful. Also, I think it probably goes without saying, they were shouting the same tired slogans that you hear at all of these events.

The counter protest - It was small, but they were cool. I talked to them for a few minutes, and am glad that someone showed up to stand for Israel. I was sorry that I arrived a bit late, and wasn’t able to participate more. Who organizes these counter protests, anyway? In any case, people walking by on the Indigo side of the street would stop and ask what the crowd across the street was all bent out of shape about. They got a good explanation of what the term “useful idiot” means from one of the women standing with the Israel crowd. It was pretty funny.

Finally, the police seemed to me to be pretty cool. After the rally, the officer who seemed to be in charge came to the pro-Israel side, and thanked everyone for being peaceful, for not crossing lines, and for having respect for the police that were there. He said that they were not there to take sides, but just to keep the peace. Then, many of the officers promptly went into Indigo to get a coffee at Starbucks.

Oh, and, it was cold. Really cold. Especially for a California boy like me. Maybe about -8 C, with wind…Bay St. wind. All the Canadians will call me a wuss, but that’s alright.

So, until next time…Support the IDF, buy a book from Chapters-Indigo.

Related Posts:
Protest Craziness:
Toronto’s Pro-Hezbollah, Anti-Israel Rally (August 2006)
Hezbollah in Toronto (July 2006)
Some More U of T Craziness:
Ontario Taskforce to Study Islamophobia
UofT “Social Justice” Events

Update: A good post about the Israeli Apartheid claims at Israellycool.

Posted by casey on Monday, February 19th, 2007 at 1:27 pm.