To appease Zionists, Toronto City Council has just voted overwhelmingly for a by-law curtailing demonstrations. The “bubble zone” bylaw would allow any religious building, school, or other piece of “community infrastructure” to demand an exclusion zone forbidding any protest within 20 metres.
Looking at a map, this would quash most marches in the downtown core, if it was applied with full force – with a $5000 fine per protester. It represents a huge attack on the right to protest. Yet, Council passed the bylaw by 16-9 – with New Democratic Party-affiliated mayor Olivia Chow voting in favour.
This is not because this measure is popular. In fact, during the city’s consultations, a majority – 63 per cent – of Toronto residents opposed it.
But it has been backed by a very loud right-wing propaganda campaign.
The bylaw was first proposed by right-wing councillor Brad Bradford at the start of the genocide – supposedly to stop Pro-Palestine protesters from targeting Jewish “places of worship.” Since then, right-wing outlets like the Toronto Sun, have suggested that “anti-Israel” mobs are terrorizing Toronto’s synagogues, Jewish schools and even daycares.
To be clear, no pro-Palestine groups have protested Jewish schools or daycares. There have however been protests outside of a select few synagogues – because Zionist organizations opted to hold events inside them, featuring IDF soldiers, stolen land sales and more.
In early 2024, for example, a real estate exhibition for stolen West Bank land was held in a synagogue in Thornhill. Last June, Zionist groups hosted Gilad Erdan, ex-Minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet, at the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue to sell Israel bonds and mobilize support for Israel’s war effort. And, more recently, the Toronto Zionist Council hosted a panel of active duty IDF soldiers titled Triggered, the Tour: from Combat to Campus, out of the Lodzer synagogue, this past spring.
Yes, these events were protested by Pro-Palestine groups – and rightly so.
These were pro-genocide rallies. They involved public figures who have blood on their hands, speaking in favour of the ongoing slaughter in Gaza.
And, now that it has been introduced, the bylaw opens the door to repression against more than just the Palestine movement.
During the drafting of the bylaw, for example, critics noted that it could have been used against the Art Gallery of Ontario workers during their 2024 strike – as the AGO is a few metres away from several churches, daycares and at least one synagogue.
As the class struggle intensifies, we can expect this bylaw to be used more and more against workers and youth protesting the injustices and horrors of capitalism.
The Palestine solidarity movement has been a channel through which the mounting anger of millions against our own ruling class has been expressed. It has also revealed the lengths to which the latter is ready to go to curtail our democratic right to protest against its rule.
