A larger-than-usual crowd of pro-Palestinian activists gathered for the weekly demonstration on Sunday at the Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West intersection in Toronto, resulting in heated verbal clashes, traffic disruptions, and heavy police intervention.
The demonstration unfolded after gunfire struck just hours earlier at a Jewish-owned bakery chain situated approximately 3.5 kilometers from the protest site. Both the bakery and the protest site sit within a corridor heavily populated by Jewish residents, synagogues, and local businesses.
During the demonstrations, pro-Palestinian activists participated in an impromptu march along Sheppard Avenue West that was halted by police managing the crowds outside local commercial office spaces and Baycrest, a Jewish senior care facility. Independent documentarians and commentators filming the scene captured local residents and passing bystanders expressing deep concern on camera, arguing that staging intense protests directly outside a senior care facility and healthcare infrastructure in a heavily Jewish neighborhood targeted vulnerable community members rather than serving a legitimate political destination.
Independent documentarian Caryma Sa'd shared footage on social media showing workers in scrubs gesturing their disapproval as protesters passed the nursing care facility, as well as police instructing demonstrators supporting Israel and opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran to stay on opposite sidewalks.
Protestors chanted: 'Death, death to the IDF'
Social media footage captured a participant wearing a t-shirt bearing text that read “FCK IDF” and “DEATH DEATH TO THE IDF!” worn by another. An activist named Daniela Bonamico led the chant "from the sea to the river Palestine will live forever" across police barriers.
Activists and counter-protesters displayed various flags, including Palestinian, Israeli, Iranian (both Islamic Republic and Lion and Sun), Lebanese, and Canadian flags, along with signs reading "Free Palestine, Stop the Genocide."
Toronto Police Service officers managed the crowds behind temporary metal barricades, enforcing restrictions tracing back to previous municipal police directives prohibiting protests from spilling into quiet residential pockets around Bathurst and Sheppard due to heightened community safety concerns.
One of the protesters, Hamood Al-Waili, who was arrested back in April 2025 for refusing to remove his keffiyeh at a Jewish community centre and has a history of posting antisemitic tweets, engaged in an extended on-camera discussion with Toronto Police Inspector Israel Bernardo and other officers, complaining that he witnessed someone spitting from a residential balcony and demanding an immediate arrest.
The demonstrations at Bathurst and Sheppard are part of weekly protest events. According to footage shared on social media, the elevated turnout on July 26 appeared to be a reaction to the July 21 arrest of Liberate Palestine 48 (LP48) organizer Ahmad Hajahmad (also known as Ahmad Jarrar), a regular fixture at the intersection who faces a terrorism charge alleging participation in or contribution to Hamas activities. Jarrar has denied the allegations, which have not been tested in court.