Canadian Activists Pour 'River of Blood' on Israeli Consulate Steps to Symbolize Devastation Across Palestine

Jewish Canadians and allies on Friday symbolically poured a "river of blood" on the steps of the Israeli consulate in Toronto to represent the human carnage in Gaza over recent days--and across historic Palestine for decades--as they demanded the Canadian government end its support for the Israeli government's violent policies.

The demonstration was led by World Beyond War, Independent Jewish Voices, Just Peace Advocates, and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.

"We are making the violence of Israel's brutal occupation, military attacks, and ethnic cleansing visible right here on the consulate's doorstep."
--Rachel Small, World Beyond War

The protest came a day after diplomats brokered a ceasefire between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas--a temporary reprieve that was desperately needed following an 11-day assault in which more than 230 Palestinians, including 65 children, were killed and nearly 2,000 wounded. According to Israeli authorities, 12 people were killed in recent days by Hamas rockets.

While the ceasefire was welcomed by Canadian advocates for Palestinian rights, Rabbi David Mivasair of Independent Jewish Voices said, "the ceasefire doesn't end the injustice and oppression."

"It can no longer be business as normal at Israel's consulates in Canada," said Mivasair. "The death and destruction inflicted by Israel in Gaza, as well as the heightened violence by Israel across Palestine, cannot be washed away. This belligerence is the latest in an ongoing aggressive 73-year settler-colonization project by Israel across historic Palestine."

"Red paint streaming from the Israeli consulate onto the street in Toronto represents the blood of massacred innocent Palestinian civilians, the blood on Israel's hands," said the groups in a joint statement. "As Canadians, we demand that our government holds Israel accountable for war crimes and stops the Canada-Israel arms trade."

Canada has exported $57 million in weapons to Israel since 2015, including $16 million in bomb-making materials. The Canadian government also recently signed a contract to buy drones from the same Israeli company that supplies 85% of the drones used by the IDF to surveil and attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

"Jews in our communities in Canada are overcome with grief and anger," said Mivasair. "Many of us stand in solidarity with our Palestinian siblings. We say loud and clear, 'not in our name.' Israel can no longer continue to commit these atrocities in the name of the Jewish people."

By pouring red paint on the steps of the Israeli consulate, said Rachel Small, an organizer with World Beyond War, "We are making it impossible for anyone to enter and exit Israeli government offices here without directly confronting the violence and bloodshed they are complicit in."

"We are making the violence of Israel's brutal occupation, military attacks, and ethnic cleansing visible right here on the consulate's doorstep," Small said.