A criminal charge against a Hamilton, Ont. rabbi who allegedly dumped red paint on the steps of the building housing Israel’s Toronto consulate has been withdrawn.
On Jan. 19, the Crown dropped a charge of one count of mischief under $5,000 against Rabbi David Mivasair for pouring paint on the steps of 2 Bloor St. E. to symbolize Palestinian bloodshed in last May’s 11-day Israel-Gaza war.
Mivasair, 69, was charged on May 21 after police responded to a call about damage to the consulate. His arrest stemmed from a demonstration the day before to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza.
At the time, Mivasair told media that the “violence by Israel across Palestine cannot be washed away.
“Red paint streaming from the Israeli consulate onto the street in Toronto represents the blood of massacred innocent Palestinian civilians,” he said.
On the day of the attack, Israel’s consulate released a statement saying “provocative acts of vandalism such as (this) are counter-productive and do not contribute to any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The consulate had no comment on the dropping of the charge.
Mivasair’s supporters in the pro-Palestinian movement have noted that the water-based tempera paint washed easily off the steps of the building.
