FIRST READING: The shockingly simple fix to end constant anti-Israel protests

First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.

TOP STORY

As anti-Israel demonstrators once again disrupted and blockaded Christmas shoppers across Canada, a growing chorus of politicians and legal analysts are noting this would be extremely easy to stop if Canada wanted to.

On Sunday, an Indigo books in Montreal was occupied by demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, blocking cash registers and using bullhorns to scream “intifada revolution” at shoppers.

An Indigo location in Toronto was subjected to similar treatment. Although a line of uniformed Toronto Police prevented demonstrators from entering the building, they were able to form an hours-long cordon on the sidewalk to yell slogans and insults at passing shoppers.

Indigo has often been the site of anti-Israel blockades and demonstrations due to the pro-Israel philanthropy of its CEO Heather Reisman. Nevertheless, this is only the latest instance of a suite of Canadian anti-Israel demonstrations targeting Christmas shoppers.

On Dec. 14 — the same day as an antisemitic mass shooting in Australia — the group Montreal for Palestine crowded a Montreal Christmas market and used speakers to denounce the “Zionist entity” and claim that “Jesus was Palestinian.”

Over the weekend, the Toronto-based pro-Jewish group Tafsik published a guide entitled, “Why aren’t the police doing anything?”

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSgX81nDY-K/

In it, they profiled seven provincial and municipal figures who would each feasibly be able to rein in anti-Israel demonstrations with a simple directive. In most cases, no new laws or power would be required.

The authorities ranged from Doug Downey, the attorney general under Ontario Premier Doug Ford, to Myron Demkiw, chief of the Toronto Police.

In the case of Downey, Tafsik said he would only need to issue a one-line directive to police and Crown prosecutors: “Police have my permission to charge hate crimes immediately. We will prosecute aggressively.”

For Demkiw, all that would be needed is an order to “arrest agitators for mischief. Let courts sort it out.”

As Tafsik wrote, Demkiw has “sole authority to order officers to clear roads or effect mass arrests,” but is instead “hiding behind lawyers” and adopting a “measured response” that minimizes enforcement.

Images of the Indigo actions on Dec. 21 prompted a lengthy social media post from former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, who itemized five distinct laws that were being broken by the action.

This included Criminal Code charges against mischief, “causing a disturbance” and “membership in an unlawful assembly,” as well as provincial laws regarding trespassing on private property.

“If the authorities were the least bit serious about ‘zero tolerance’ for antisemitism, they would throw the book at these haters,” he wrote.

Unenforced laws was also the theme of a recent letter by Toronto-area MP Roman Baber, who was reacting to regular anti-Israel demonstrations held at the heart of the city’s most heavily Jewish neighbourhood.

Held every Sunday for months, the demonstrations have included figures dressing up as the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and “colour parties” of masked men marching through surrounding residential streets playing drums and carrying Palestinian flags.

“They are not peaceful protests since they include threats and disturb the peace in a residential neighbourhood,” wrote Baber in a letter to Demkiw and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.

“All we ask is for equal application of the Rule of Law. Stop pointing fingers and protect Toronto’s Jewish community before a catastrophe ensues.”

Just in the last week, police throughout the Anglosphere have announced crackdowns on anti-Israel demonstrations as a direct reaction to the Dec. 14 Bondi Beach massacre in Sydney, Australia.

The massacre was a targeted mass shooting of Jews by two suspected Islamic extremists, a father and son.

Sydney, just like Canada’s major cities, has notably been the site of multiple anti-Israel demonstrations calling for “intifada,” and receiving minimal pushback from law enforcement.

This included an infamous rally held outside the Sydney Opera House only two days after the October 7 massacres in Israel, which included chants of “where’s the Jews?”

On Saturday, the premier of New South Wales, the Australian state containing Sydney, announced new restrictions on the phrase “intifada,” deeming it a call for violence.

“We understand the meaning of it,” Chris Minns told reporters. “Its use in common parlance, in demonstrations both here and around the world are a call to global intifada. I mean, that’s what it means.”

In the U.K., police in London and Manchester — both hubs of anti-Israel agitation — announced that they would be stepping up public order arrests against those calling for intifada.

“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests,” the Metropolitan Police and the Greater Manchester Police said in a joint statement.

IN OTHER NEWS

Canada has broken yet another immigration record. After a whirlwind few years that saw Canada break records for total immigration intake, asylum-seeker backlog and its overall population of temporary migrants, 2025 saw Canada chart its highest-ever number of “enforced removals.”

Across 2025, there were 18,785 people successfully kicked out of the country for various violations. This compares to 17,357 last year, and 15,207 in 2023. Of the enforced removals, just 8,982 are deportations, with the rest being exclusion orders (5,821) and departure orders 3,982).

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An exclusion order is someone turned away at the border and ordered not to return. A departure order refers to someone who leaves voluntarily after being told they’re no longer welcome.

First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.