Tensions erupt at opposing rallies

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This article was published 22/10/2023 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tensions between Winnipeg’s Jewish and Palestinian communities reached a new high Sunday with an act of disrespect inciting a confrontation between the groups and forcing police to intervene.

Around 2 p.m., supporters on both sides of the international conflict gathered for opposing rallies outside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Stationed on either side of Israel Asper Way, the parties were armed with loudspeakers, flags and signs as they faced-off across the boulevard.

The event reached a boiling point roughly an hour after it began, when a Palestine supporter snatched an Israeli flag and ran it over to the Palestinian side of the street, where people began stomping it on the pavement.

In an instant, the opposing sides — each numbering around 70 people — charged at each other, prompting dozens of uniformed police officers to sprint from a nearby parking lot on the north side of York Avenue and intervene.

Police worked to separate the crowd — successfully de-escalating the situation shortly after it began. A Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson confirmed afterward nobody was arrested as a result.

“This is unacceptable behaviour,” said Ron East, founder of the Israeli-Canadian council. “There are certain things that we as Israelis cannot tolerate and one of them is the defaming of our flag. I am disappointed by the show of disrespect from the other group.”

At the recommendation of police liaison officers, East used a loudspeaker to encourage the Israeli supporters to disperse.

“This is not showing weakness, this is actually showing strength by co-operating with the Winnipeg police department and exiting in order to assure the safety of everybody,” he told the crowd. “They can consider this a victory if they want to. We don’t want a confrontation; we don’t want anybody hurt.”

The words elicited cheers and applause from the Palestine supporters.

Ramsey Zeid, president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba, declined to comment on the incident, saying only “It’s unfortunate when one or two people’s actions flare things up, but it’s just the way things go.”

The confrontation marked an end to the latest in a series of rallies that have happened on a weekly basis since Oct. 7, when Hamas committed a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of Jewish civilians and sparking a wave of retaliatory bloodshed and bombings.

East and Zeid have been prominent fixtures at local rallies condemning the actions. Both have helped to organize events and communicate frequently with police.

Sunday’s confrontation came on the heels of a pro-Palestine rally that brought thousands into downtown Winnipeg the previous afternoon.

The group shut down the intersection of Portage and Main, calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza strip and additional humanitarian aid from the provincial and federal governments.

A small crowd of Israeli counter-protesters was present at the event, but the groups did not clash and the protest ended peacefully, with a prayer at Memorial Park.

“We will continue to have these every week until there is a ceasefire, but the fight doesn’t stop after the ceasefire. This is a conflict that’s been going on for 75 years. Palestinian people must have their dignity, must have equality and must have their humanity,” Zeid said.

Roughly 2 million people have been relegated to Gaza — an impoverished stretch of land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea — for decades, leading human rights organizations to describe it as an open-air prison.

Speaking to reporters before the rally escalated, East said Progressive Conservative MLA Obby Khan — who is Muslim — reached out to him offering to mediate conversations between East and Zeid to ensure safety for both parties.

“(Zeid’s) response seemed to be positive. So now it goes back to Obby Khan… to see if we can have that meeting together, so that at least we can establish some parameters of how we co-exist in this city as this situation continues to unfold,” East said. “We are not against the Palestinian people, we are against Hamas.”

Zeid said Sunday he is willing to meet with Khan and East.

“That’s the beautiful thing about our country in Canada, we don’t have to be scared. They don’t carry fully-automatic guns and they don’t have tanks, so I can sit down and talk without fear,” he said. “(But) I don’t want to discuss Hamas. This is not a Hamas-Israel conflict, this is an Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Palestine supporters are planning to host another rally next Saturday, Zeid said.

Police will continue to work with both groups and monitor all events that take place in the city, a spokesperson said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca