A masked speaker at a Vancouver anti-Israel rally shouted “Death to Canada” into a microphone, expressed support for terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas and burned a Canadian flag, according to videos circulating on the internet.
Politicians expressed outrage after a series of clips recorded outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, purportedly part of a rally organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, were posted to X early Tuesday morning.
In one 45-second clip from the New Westminster Times, an independent British Columbia online news outlet founded in 2022, an unidentified woman tells a moderately sized crowd of several dozen to “not wonder how revolution can be done.
“We must do it. Death to Canada. Death to the United States. And death to Israel,” she says before throwing down a Canadian flag and appearing to stomp on it. The video cuts off as she continues speaking.
The same person is shown in another video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by Jarryd Jäger of the Western Standard claiming affiliation with entities such as the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas, before adding to cheers, “And yes, we are Hezbollah and we are Hamas.
“Our resistance has existed for centuries,” she goes on before the video cuts off.
In another video from Jäger, as a different unidentified woman shouts “Israel burn, burn. Palestinians will return” and “Land back!” into the microphone, four other people are seen trying to ignite a seemingly flame-retardant flag before ultimately ripping it in half. Subsequent videos show them somewhat successfully burning it in pieces.
B.C. Premier David Eby said on social media that the “hateful rhetoric” doesn’t belong in the province.
Late Monday night, provincial Conservative party leader John Rustad, who is looking to unseat Eby and the NDP in next week’s provincial election, wrote on X that “Anyone who is chanting that they are ‘Hezbollah and Hamas’ on October 7th should not be welcome in Canada.”
Tuesday morning, he was condemning the displays, and committing to a crackdown on those crimes if elected.
Rustad and the party also issued a news release calling for Canada to “designate Samidoun as a terrorist organization,” citing the stated ties to Hezbollah and Hamas, both of which are terrorist entities in Public Safety Canada’s determination.
In Ottawa, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre made a similar call during a scrum with reporters outside the House of Commons.
The Tory boss called Samidoun a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, detailed some of its history citing various sources and reprimanding the Vancouver display.
“Let’s bring home safety,” Poilievre said, asking for a ban under the criminal code.
As reported by the Vancouver Sun, the group is a federally registered non-profit that is based in East Vancouver.
A request for comment from the group was not returned.
The Vancouver Police Department was also contacted regarding any complaints or charges from the rally, but they have yet to respond.
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