Two weeks after Toronto police’s new rules of engagement were announced for the duelling anti– and pro-Israel weekly demonstrations at the intersection of Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave., a small core of marchers nevertheless spread out through the heavily Jewish area.

That prompted renewed expressions of frustration on Sunday, April 5, from some local residents and Jewish leaders who believe that the protesters should not be permitted to expand their traditional protest zone at the intersection. But police say there’s obviously some confusion, because they were never going to ban the anti-Israel protests entirely. Rather, they just want to keep marchers off residential side streets.

So did the new rules improve safety at all? Or was the heavy police presence the key factor in keeping things a bit quieter this time?

On today’s episode of The CJN’s "North Star" podcast, host Ellin Bessner brings you her on-the-ground report from the three-hour long duelling rally and march.

You’ll hear from several voices, including Toronto police Inspector Israel Bernardo, who explains why the new rules may have been misunderstood; James Pasternak, the local city councillor who says the protests are taking up valuable police resources for the sake of “glorified babysitting”; lawyer and activist Michael Teper, who describes his role in sparking a recent hate crime arrest; and one resident of the neighbourhood who feels the police’s new protest zone rules actually allowed the anti-Israel demonstrations to escalate.

Related stories

Read more about how the new police protest rules were enforced at Bathurst and Sheppard on April 5, in The CJN.
Why Toronto police announced March 22 that no protesters would be allowed to enter side streets, in The CJN.
Hear legal experts denounce why so many antisemitic or anti-Israel protesters in Toronto are having their charges dropped, on The CJN’s “North Star” podcast .

Credits

Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
Music: Bret Higgins

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