Hundreds of thousands of people throughout Canada have come out in support of Gaza in recent months, including in rallies, vigils, blockades and occupations.

Throughout this time, the pro-Palestine movement has been consistently smeared by corporate media and politicians as antisemitic, supportive of terror and violent. This has often been based on warped interpretations of protest chants and locations, but has sometimes also taken the form of actions by individuals being used to defame the group.

This sort of treatment has not been given to the pro-Israel side by mainstream media and politicians despite some of those acting in its name being violent and/or making threats, and sometimes being arrested and charged for these acts.

Here’s a brief timeline of alleged violence and threats made against pro-Palestine protesters from Oct. 7, 2023 onward. All of these incidents have received some level of press coverage (usually minor), but are almost never strung together when commenting on the pro-Israel side as a whole.

The examples chosen are limited to incidents that led to legal action, detainments, arrests and/or charges.

This article will be updated with more examples going forward.

Oct. 9, 2023: A man in Calgary was arrested after allegedly “trying to goad the pro-Palestine supporters, calling them ‘scum,’” according to Global News.

Oct. 10, 2023: A woman in Montreal said that a pro-Israeli individual rammed her car with their vehicle, narrowly avoiding hitting her, because it had a Palestinian flag on it. The woman then recorded the pro-Israeli individual telling her: “You should be raped and dragged through the streets in front of your kids.” In November 2023, the woman said she planned to take legal action.

Oct. 12, 2023: A man in Windsor, Ont., was arrested by police for breach of the peace after he and another man, both carrying Israeli flags, disrupted a pro-Palestine protest, leading to a fight. The man was released shortly after. 

Nov. 3, 2023: A person drove their vehicle through a pro-Palestine rally in East Vancouver, narrowly avoiding protesters, bumping into others and causing some to jump out of the way. Police eventually located the driver and investigated the incident. 

Nov. 12, 2023: A University of Ottawa student was detained by parliamentary security officers on Parliament Hill after allegedly shouting “slurs and obscenities” at pro-Palestine protesters, as well as calling on them to, “Save Palestine from Hamas.” He later called them “Hamas-Nazi sympathizers” on Instagram. According to The Fulcrum, “The Parliamentary Protective Service issued a Trespass to Property Act notice to [the student] for the incident, which prohibits him from entering Parliament Hill for one year.”

Dec. 3, 2023: Police in Victoria, B.C., arrested a man “after he accelerated his vehicle towards a protester during a [pro-Palestine] demonstration at the BC Legislature.” The man drove onto the sidewalk and nearly hit one of the protesters. After doing so, he got out of the vehicle and said, “‘From the river to the sea, eh, that’s what they said since '48. So when are you gonna get the fuck to reality and go back to Jordan?” On Dec. 14, 2023, the man was charged with one count of assault with a weapon and one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

Dec. 24, 2023: A pro-Israeli woman in Toronto was arrested and charged in late-December after making throat-slitting gestures toward a pro-Palestine protester. The woman was “charged with uttering threats/death or causing bodily harm,” and police announced that they were investigating the matter as a hate-motivated offence.

Feb. 14, 2024: A man allegedly called Toronto police and threatened to kill pro-Palestine protesters in downtown Toronto. He was arrested and charged two days later.

March 3, 2024: A pro-Israeli man countering a pro-Palestine protest in Vaughan, Ont., threatened them while holding a nail gun and allegedly shot at them. He also said, “Every fucking Palestinian will die.” The man was arrested that day and charged with: “possess weapons dangerous to the public”; “assault with a weapon”; “assault x2”; “mischief.” Police later claimed that hate “was a motivating factor” in his actions, according to CityNews.

March 7, 2024: Several pro-Israeli counter-protesters in Vaughan, Ont., were arrested and charged for allegedly assaulting pro-Palestine protesters and possessing weapons. One was charged with “possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose” after allegedly being spotted carrying a knife. Another was charged with assault for kicking a protest marshall in the abdomen. The third was charged with “assault with a weapon” and “possess weapons dangerous to the public” after allegedly threatening to spray coyote repellent on protesters. Some of these arrests and alleged assaults were captured on video.