Latest News

Al Quds

Another Al-Quds Day Speaker in Toronto Calls for Israelis to be Shot

B’nai Brith Canada, which is on the record as warning that the 2016 al-Quds Day rally would once again descend into open support for terrorist organizations and antisemitic incitement, has called for a criminal investigation into hate speech at the event.

One keynote speaker, Ali Mallah, called for Israelis to be shot en masse. After stating that Palestinians “…have the right to resist their occupation by any means necessary,” a clear endorsement of Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians, he continued:

“In the United States, if somebody makes a mistake and walks into somebody’s home, he will be shot, right? Here in Canada, if somebody attacks us we will attack and shoot them, alright? So why is it okay then to occupy Palestinian land and oppress Palestinian people?”

Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, is livid that this type of hate speech is occurring in this country.

“Last week, a Palestinian official said, ‘Wherever you see an Israeli, slit his throat’; three days later, a Palestinian terrorist slit the throat of an innocent 13-year-old Israeli child as she slept in her bed,” Mostyn said. “Al-Quds organizers in Toronto have called for Israelis to be shot. Authorities must take this threat seriously, before it happens in Canada. Mallah’s latest outburst of hate speech proves that al-Quds organizers have not learned their lesson from the 2013 police investigation. Al-Quds Day must be shut down permanently in Canada, and B’nai Brith will be launching a campaign to end this display of hate speech and incitement.”

This is not the first time that Toronto al-Quds Day speakers have called for genocide against Israeli Jews. In 2013, former Palestine House president Elias Hazineh also called for all Israelis to be shot, leading to a Toronto Police investigation. Indeed, there are clear parallels between Mallah’s comparison of Israeli Jews to home invaders who deserve to be killed, and Hazineh’s twisted analogy comparing Israelis to bank robbers. Hazineh also appeared on stage at this year’s al-Quds Day demonstration.

Mallah is a former member of both the federal and Ontario NDP Executives and is a prominent member of the Canadian-Arab community, having served as the Ontario Vice-President of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF). That organization had its federal funding stripped by Ottawa in 2014 due to its promotion of antisemitism and praise for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. CAF appealed this decision all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case in March.

For more information contact:
Marty York
Chief Media Officer
B’nai Brith Canada