Police in Toronto and York Region plan on having an increased presence this weekend to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. It is a sad statement on the country that police feel the need to increase patrols ahead of the anniversary of a terrorist attack.
Still, Toronto’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, gave himself and his police service top marks for their performance over the last year despite all evidence to the contrary. Thanks to Demkiw’s complete lack of leadership, Toronto’s Jewish community feels under threat one year after the Oct. 7 attacks and the people supporting the terror groups attacking Israel feel emboldened.
Of course, this year, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks comes as the Jewish community marks Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Why should members of the Jewish community, or any community in our country, feel that they are not safe to mark their religious holidays? Why should the Jewish community need to feel that they need extra security as they celebrate their holidays or mark the anniversary of a horrific terrorist attack?
The real answer is that they shouldn’t need extra security; they should feel safe to celebrate their holidays, and they should be embraced by all of us as they mark this dark day.
Sadly, that isn’t the case.
A year ago, Hamas, backed by Iran, launched a horrific terrorist attack on Israel. Since then, Iran’s other proxies in Hezbollah — based in Lebanon — and the Houthis – based in Yemen — have also attacked the only Jewish state in the world and the only democracy in the Middle East.
Here at home, supporters of these terrorist regimes have been marching and “protesting” since Oct. 7, 2023, under the guise of what most of my media colleagues call “pro-Palestinian” protesters. This is nothing short of a lie because all you have to do is pay attention to their chants, their songs, their slogans, and their signs to realize that they have been pro-Hamas since last October.
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In the last few months, the protests have included people who back the Houthi terrorist regime, the Hezbollah terrorist organization and the Islamic Republic or Iran — the funder of all these groups.
Yet, few arrests have been made, at least not in public, as these protestors have shown full support for terrorist groups.
“Since Oct. 7, Toronto Police have made 72 protest-related arrests,” Demkiw said during a Wednesday morning news conference.
Demkiw also noted that during the last year, his police force has attended some 1,500 events related to the conflict in the Middle East. Let’s be honest and clear: Most of them have been protests against Israel and in support of Hamas, or Hezbollah or Iran.
The threat to public safety does not come from Toronto’s Jewish community, but rather those who want to do them harm.
Demkiw attempted to claim that Toronto Police have done a great job over the last year since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. Facts would present a different story, including Demkiw’s officers delivering coffee and doughnuts to protesters on an Avenue Rd. bridge or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official dinner with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni being shut down due to his incompetence and lack of planning.
“I appreciate your perspective, Brian,” Chief Demkiw said when I asked him about his record over the last year.
In fact, he didn’t appreciate my perspective that under his leadership, TPS has failed.
“I believe that our members have done an incredible job keeping our city safe during what has been a very challenging time for our communities,” Demkiw said.
Leadership starts at the top and on this issue, the Toronto Police Service have no leadership. Demkiw has been weak on this issue for the last year, that isn’t about to change.
If he isn’t willing to lead the Toronto Police Service to deal with the open support for terrorism on our streets, then he should step aside for someone who will. That’s the challenge, do the job or get out of the way for someone who will.
What’s it going to be, Myron?