Trudeau says some Pro-Palestinian protests cross the line into hate, harassment

Pro-Palestinian protests that include expressions of hatred or harassing behaviour cross a line, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.

Trudeau told a press conference in Toronto that he's heard from too many members of Canada's Jewish community who have seen protests at synagogues and community centres and who now feel unsafe.

Nobody can be indifferent to the suffering in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, and Canadians have a right to protest and make their anger heard, he said.

«This loss of civilian lives and the impact on Canadian families and people who are worried about their loved ones is entirely understandable,» he said.

But Trudeau said he expects Canadians, including police, to act within the law and make sure everyone can feel safe.

«There are horrible things that we are seeing, but it is not who we are to take it out on our fellow Canadians,» he said. «Hateful or harassing behaviour, particularly against neighbours, is not what we do here in Canada.»

«Canadians have a right to protest, absolutely, to make their anguish, their anger, heard by other Canadians. That's important and we will always protect that right,» he added. «But when the protests turn to hatred, or to acts of harassment — particularly against fellow Canadians — there's a line that's crossed.»

On Tuesday, Quebec's Superior Court granted a Montreal synagogue and a Jewish organization an injunction barring some pro-Palestinian protesters from coming within 50 metres of their buildings.

A representative of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the community sought the injunction after protesters surrounded a Jewish community centre on Monday, blocking people inside and chanting antisemitic slogans.

Sarah Boivin, a member of