“Oct 7 2023”

When Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly sat down with the Star’s editorial board a couple of weeks ago, she described the rising Middle East tension this way: “Of all the geopolitical crises, this is one that is the most emotionally difficult for all.”

That reality was also discussed a couple of weeks ago when Justin Trudeau sat down privately with New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, along with their aides.

Because they imported the problem and now are helpless to stop it.

How did this tiny country go from a beacon of democracy in the Middle East to being so utterly reviled – especially by young progressives?

Last Saturday, I met a man named Faisal Salama at a pro-Palestinian rally in Vancouver. Mr. Salama, 30, had just moved to the city. He is Palestinian – born in Kuwait, raised in Edmonton – and still has family in Gaza, including an aunt and first cousins, now displaced from the north as Israeli bombs rain down. His family was relocated to Gaza in 1948 when they lost their home in Ashdod, a city on the Mediterranean coast. Mr. Salama’s father, who was 7 at the time, still lives in Kuwait as a stateless refugee.

My heart was breaking, listening to his story. It was also pounding.

Pro-Palestine demonstators in Columbus Circle confront an Israel supporter who starts sobbing.

“Cry, bitch! Cry!” a Palestine supporter yells at her. pic.twitter.com/oLLtuUhnE1

— Steven Vago (@Vagoish) November 10, 2023

h/t Sweetpea

Thousands of people set off marching from Hyde Park in London today as part of a huge demonstration in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they called for an immediate ceasefire.

The march, which coincides with Armistice Day, will head towards the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames.

Chants of ‘free Palestine’ and ‘ceasefire now’ could be heard as the protesters set off, with police saying those gathered had so far been peaceful with no incidents reported.

Headband styled Hamas supporters in London. Ok, I will leave it there! pic.twitter.com/5wvjj8FdEm

— JD (@adamjon83) November 11, 2023

London and all over the UK: Organisers expect today’s march for peace and justice in Palestine to be one of the biggest ever demonstrations in British history. pic.twitter.com/LCh1TpcXlo

— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) November 11, 2023

A Palestinian who was heralded as a “hero” and compared to Rosa Parks by liberal media after she assaulted an Israel Defense Forces soldier in Nabi Selah, a village in the West Bank, was arrested Monday by the IDF for allegedly inciting terrorism and calling for drinking the blood of Jews.

#NEW Pro Palestine protesters try to kick the doors in, smashing a glass at Grand Central Station.

Clashes with police as thousands marched from Columbus Circle through NYC Streets, demanding Ceasefire in Gaza.

📹 by Ken Lopez Desk@freedomnews.tv to license pic.twitter.com/HUX6M9WRty

— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) November 11, 2023

#NOW Pro-Palestine Protester seen thrown on the ground in clash with police, he was carried away unconscious.

Pro-Palestine protesters marched through NYC Streets, with arrests happening on 43rd and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan.

📹 by Ken Lopez Desk@freedomnews.tv to license pic.twitter.com/LQGCLtnQGr

— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) November 11, 2023

Excited but mostly peaceful protesters enthusiastically knock on the doors of Grand Central Station in NYC in order to hold a debate about the history of Israel with the police officers who have sheltered inside to avoid discussing this difficult topic.pic.twitter.com/v1SCBeIKlE

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 11, 2023

H/T Sweetpea

Media, politicians, pro Hamas, have found their chosen video to use in a slur against anyone opposing the #HateMarch due to set off from Hyde Park.

Not everyone there is ‘far right’, or extremist, many just want to show support for Israel.

pic.twitter.com/Rkj3IEa5Zn

— Steve 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@LordCLQTR) November 11, 2023

This is who they are. This is who they’ve always been. These are Suella’s thugs and this is how they honour the fallen. #ArmisticeDay2023 #Whitehall pic.twitter.com/D7MGLeeibH

— Paul (@LeftySeparatist) November 11, 2023

Despite a few scuffles, which are inevitable, #ArmisticeDay2023 at the #Cenotaph seems to have gone without issue, and a respectful 2 minute silence.

Had there not been a counter protest, I am pretty confident the #HateMarch would’ve disrupted events.pic.twitter.com/mIDAW7dO2v

— Steve 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@LordCLQTR) November 11, 2023

Israeli officials on Thursday, November 9th, announced that it will implement daily, “tactical, localized pauses” in its military operations in Gaza to allow for the evacuation of civilians and distribution of humanitarian aid, but emphasized no ceasefire will occur until all hostages are released.

Kristallnacht has come to Toronto.

Of course, long before Indigo Books was vandalized, Jewish businesses had already been targeted here in the weeks before the 85th anniversary of the ‘Night of the Broken Glass’ that saw dozens of Jews murdered and thousands of synagogues, businesses and homes burned in Germany and Austria.

Critics say cops aren’t enforcing the law fairly. Cops say they are scared to.

On October 17, a man posted a video on Twitter of a street in his East London neighborhood. There was a Turkish restaurant, a Dominos, graffiti—and lots of Palestinian flags.

“Look at this crap here,” the man, known only as John A, is heard saying. He has a working-class, Scottish accent. “You let them into the country, and this is the shit they come up with.”

Two weeks later, on the night of October 31, police officers showed up at John A’s apartment.

Why do people with no knowledge of the Israel-Hamas conflict feel the need to join these awful marches?

A short video was shared on X this week in which two young female protesters at a pro-Palestine march were asked a pretty straightforward question about the crisis in the Middle East: ‘When Hamas invaded Israel on the 7 October, what was your initial reaction to that?’

The first one looked briefly confused. Was this a trick?, she seemed to be thinking. Her companion stepped in: ‘I don’t believe they did, did they? Hamas?’ Then something started coming back to the first one. The stirrings of something like a distant memory. ‘I think so…’, she said, trying to correct her friend who didn’t think Hamas had done anything.

The Met are set to form a ‘ring of steel’ to quash any hint of trouble around this week’s Remembrance events amid fears of a pro-Palestine protest clashing with the Armistice Day parades.

Police chiefs have cancelled leave, extended overtime and drafted in 1,000 more officers from across Britain to reinforce their ranks.

And senior public order officers are set to give orders to immediately clamp down on any criminality or violence.

The Israel Defence Forces have been attacking Hamas in Gaza from land, sea and air for two weeks now, following a three-week air campaign. Before ground operations began, US military advisers urged the Israelis not to launch a large-scale campaign, which they believed would result in an IDF bloodbath – and be less effective than a combination of air strikes and special forces raids. The IDF rejected that advice, and moved into Gaza with a large combined arms force. And it has confounded its critics.