A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, on Jan. 30, 2023.Mahmoud Illean/The Associated Press
Rival protesters faced off on Thursday outside a synagogue north of Toronto, where a touring Israeli real estate exhibition promoting land for purchase in the occupied West Bank was making its final Canadian stop.
A York Regional Police officer with binoculars stood on the roof of the synagogue in the community of Thornhill, watching dozens of protesters below him who were waving Israeli flags on one side and Palestinian flags on the opposite side of the street.
On the steps of the synagogue where the Great Israeli Real Estate Event was being hosted, demonstrators played pop music, danced and chanted “Israel is a Jewish land.” Across the street, protesters chanted “Palestine is not for sale” and called for the exhibition inside the synagogue to be shut down.
An online brochure for the event said speakers at the exhibition were addressing questions about purchasing real estate in several locations, including Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Palestinian protesters at Thursday’s event said they were deeply concerned the list also includes Neve Daniel, Efrat and Ma’ale Adumim, which are all communities in the West Bank, a territory Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and has occupied since.
The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal. The settlements are built on land that Palestinians seek as part of a future state, and the Canadian government says they “constitute a serious obstacle to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.”
At the back entrance to the synagogue, a parking lot slowly filled up with cars Thursday afternoon, as members of the Jewish community trickled into the event under heavy security.
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