A digital billboard truck sponsored by the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF) appeared outside the intersection of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto on Sunday, displaying images and details of individuals recently arrested or sentenced by police on hate crime charges from recurring incidents during pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the heavily Jewish neighborhood.
Michael Teper, president of CAEF, described the mobile billboard campaign in a statement to The Jerusalem Post as an experiment to shift the community’s approach to public demonstrations near local Jewish institutions.
“Our focus at this point is to make the expression of antisemitism in Canada expensive, risky, career-terminating, and potentially involving jail time,” Teper said. “We’re no longer being nice and polite about it, and if the folks on the other side of the street insist on committing crimes including hate crimes, then we will hold our police accountable to ensure that they are charged and that they are prosecuted.”
Images of the mobile billboard shared on X/Twiteer show the truck displaying a roster titled “Recently Sentenced Ontario Antisemitic Criminals” alongside specific bail conditions and mugshots of individuals charged by law enforcement. The text displayed on the digital screens included warnings directed at activists, reading, “Don’t Want to be on this List? Obey the Law!” and featuring the CAEF slogan “Making Antisemitism Expensive, Risky, Career-Terminating... and Involving Jail Time.”
Additional graphic slides shared on social media in connection with the campaign stated, “We call the September 11, 2001, Attacks Acts of Terrorism. We call the October 7, 2023, Mass Rape Attacks in Israel Mass Rape Attacks. We report October 7 Rape Deniers to professional regulatory bodies. We are the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, not the CBC.”
The deployment of the mobile billboard follows mounting community outrage over inflammatory rhetoric at the weekly protests held at the Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West intersection. The demonstrations have drawn intense community concern and scrutiny for months, leading to police interventions after clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters.
Toronto police arrest two pro-Palestinian activists for willful promotion of hatred
Subsequent investigations by the Toronto Police Service Hate Crime Unit led law enforcement to arrest multiple individuals, including Daniela Bonamico and Shahram Nayeb-Yazdi, who were charged with willful promotion of hatred and public incitement of hatred after investigators alleged they retrieved antisemitic signs from a storage locker before marching toward counter-protesters.
The tensions at the weekly site intensified further after video footage circulated on social media capturing a speaker addressing the crowd through a megaphone. In the footage, the speaker claimed that “the Zionists are the most kicked-out people for their mischief. For raping children, killing children, exerting magic, black magic,” while also calling for the annihilation of Israelis.
The remarks sparked immediate condemnation from major Canadian Jewish organizations, including the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), B’nai Brith Canada, and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), who issued a joint statement declaring that “what happened at Bathurst and Sheppard this weekend was blatant antisemitism” and calling on the Toronto Police Service to investigate the incident.
The local controversy unfolds against a broader national surge in antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish and Israeli institutions across Canada in recent months. Advocacy groups have documented a sharp rise in hostile encounters, ranging from vandalism and targeted harassment to attacks on community infrastructure, deepening anxieties among Jewish Canadians regarding public safety and the limits of freedom of expression during political demonstrations.