Canada's public safety ministry falsely portrayed pro-Palestine rallies as 'advocating for violence' in October

The federal ministry in charge of public safety knew that early pro-Palestine rallies held across Canada showed no signs of “mobilizing to violence” at the behest of an unconnected call to action put out by a former Hamas commander.

Internal communications obtained by The Maple show that in mid-October , Public Safety Canada focused on pro-Palestinian rallies, with less attention paid to those held in support of Israel ’s brutal war on Gaza .

Pro-Palestine rallies in Canada were called in solidarity with Palestinians after Israel 's massive assault on the Gaza Strip in revenge for a Hamas -led attack on Israel on October 7 .

News reports and public officials in both Canada and the U.S. implied, often indirectly and without specific evidence, that the protests were organized as a direct response to that call.

A former Hamas commander was quoted as saying: “[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world”.

Toronto police have aggressively cracked down on the city’s Palestine solidarity movement.

A heavily-resourced Hate Crime Unit ’ within the Toronto Police Service has aggressively cracked up on the movement, including with pre-dawn raids, snatching people on the street, attempting to recruit informants and showing up at university lectures.

This spring , police forces violently stormed peaceful pro-Palestinian encampments held at some universities.