At least five members of Regina’s Jewish community were hurt as heated exchanges between a pro-Israel rally and a significantly larger pro-Palestinian rally turned violent in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Oct. 15.

A young woman in the Jewish group was kicked in the head and several others were punched by protesters from within the pro-Palestinian group, according to witnesses who spoke with The CJN and asked that their names not be used.

Although no serious injuries were reported, some needed medical attention after the attacks. Members of the Jewish community were able to tend to the injured quickly.

A spokesperson for the Regina Police Service said no arrests were made and the investigation is still ongoing.

Images and videos sent to The CJN show, among other things, members of the pro-Palestinian group physically attacking participants from the Israel group, throwing eggs at them and chanting “Death for Israel.”

The events started Sunday afternoon when a crowd supporting Palestine, which a CTV Regina report estimated to be 1,000 people, gathered outside the legislative building.

A considerably smaller group of roughly 50 Israel supporters in Regina held a counter-protest in close proximity at the same time.

Tensions steadily rose during the course of the two concurrent rallies, one attendee said, with members of the Palestinian group spitting on and stepping on the Israel flag in front of the legislative building. 

The Palestinian supporters then moved on toward Regina City Hall, about two kilometres from the legislative building.  In an effort to, as they said, “de-escalate” the situation, the Jewish group stayed back for 20 minutes before proceeding to city hall as well.

When the Israel group arrived at city hall, they said, the Palestinian group became more aggressive. The Israel group said it attempted to shift its focus away from the other group by forming a circle and singing “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem.

Matters grew increasingly worse at that time as the Palestinian group started throwing eggs, water bottles and trash at the Jewish group. Two people in the Jewish group said that members of the other group lifted their shirts to show knives.

At this point, the Jewish group decided to disperse and return home because they felt the police were not going to intervene and calm the tense atmosphere. However, they said, Palestinian supporters pursued a handful of them, took them to the ground and began hitting and kicking them.

One witness said that finally a number of people from the Palestinian group formed a human chain to separate the violent members of their group from the pro-Israel group.

“We attended the rally on Sunday with the purpose of showing that the Jewish and Israeli community in Regina stands with Israel.  We did not expect to be met with such hostility and hate,” one member of the pro-Israel group said.  “All we meant to do was show support for our country and condemn the crimes Hamas is committing.”

Another person who witnessed the confrontations wrote on social media, “If you told me 10 years ago that we would see this in Regina, I would never have believed you. They threw eggs and water bottles at the small Israeli group. They even ripped some signs out of their hands and tore them up, and some violence broke out. They brought children, and even they were yelling at others aggressively.”

Obtained images also appear to show people in the pro-Palestinian crowd standing on a monument dedicated to fallen First World War soldiers in Regina’s Victoria Park, near city hall.

Turnout to the Palestinian rally was much greater than anticipated, CTV Regina reported—citing both the police and the organizing team. 

A member of the Jewish group told CTV, “We know that they’re hurting as much as we and they’re entitled to their place to share with the field, the same as we. I just hope that moving forward, the understanding could be that we all have our place to hurt but still, we hope that it can happen in a civilized way, rather than the unfortunate turn of events that happened at the park.”

Similar large pro-Palestinian rallies have been held across the country since Oct. 7, when a Hamas attack on Israel left 1,400 people dead and thousands injured. An estimated 200 Israelis have been taken hostage into Gaza.

Since the start of the war, pro-Palestinian rallies have occurred in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax, among other cities.

In Toronto and in Montreal, more than 1,000 people in each city gathered outside the Israeli consulates to protest on Oct. 17, following reports of a bombing of a hospital in Gaza.

(Israel has said the bombing was the result of an errant rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The United States has said it has seen evidence the rocket was fired from Gaza. The Canadian government says it has yet to determine where the rocket originated.)

The pro-Palestinian rallies have been condemned by B’nai Brith Canada, which noted flags from terrorist groups have been seen at rallies across the country.

“The hateful atmosphere at these rallies is inspiring extremism,” CEO Michael Mostyn said in a statement. “What we are witnessing is a breeding ground for those who celebrate listed terrorist entities and threaten violence.”

Flags bearing the emblem of Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist group by Canada, have been seen at a Toronto rally, B’nai Brith reported.

Flags with the emblem of Hezbollah, also listed as a terrorist group, were spotted in Montreal. In Mississauga, Ont., a Toronto suburb which has been the site of several large protests, an Islamic Jihad black flag was observed, the advocacy group said.

Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner says it is the responsibility of the federal government to restrict rallies, if necessary.

“People can be passionate on both sides and that’s okay. This is inherently our right in Ontario to come out,” he told The CJN at a pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto on Oct. 17 that was met with a much larger pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration.

“But rallies must be peaceful, they must be respectful and they must uphold the values that we hold here in Ontario,” he said.

Meanwhile, the number of hate crimes reported in Toronto has increased dramatically since Oct. 7, police chief Myron Demkiw told a meeting of the Toronto Police Services Board Oct. 19.

Between Oct. 7 and Oct. 9, a total of 14 hate crimes were reported to the police, the police chief said. Twelve incidents were related to antisemitism, while 2 were related to anti-Muslim events.

Hate crimes are on the increase overall in the city, with 237 crimes being reported to police from Jan. 1 to Oct. 7 this year, compared with 192 in the same period last year.

Toronto police have established two command centres in Jewish neighbourhoods and all officers have been told to be ready to be deployed, if necessary, according to Demkiw.

“The Toronto Police Services will not tolerate acts of violence, intimidation or hate toward anyone or any community,” the police chief said. “We will facilitate lawful protest.”

With files from Lila Sarick.