Tag: Toronto

Toronto: Report-back from September 8 Anti-fascist Action

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Proud Boys, Soldiers of Odin, Northern Guard, and Canadian Combat Coalition got together for one of their now regular meetups and public displays of racism and Islamophobia. This time, it seemed they were particularly interested in using the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 to forward their anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant message. This is one individual’s report back on the day; ARC also has a good timeline and photos.

PEGIDA once again assembled on Armoury Street at University, with a rally planned to begin at 1:00. By 12:30 there were around 10 PEGIDA members, mostly of the angry-soccer-mom and your-racist-grandparent variety Read More …

From Embers: 85 Years Since the Christie Pits Riot

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85 years ago this week, in the midst of another long hot summer, a series of anti-Semitic and xenophobic provocations in the City of Toronto escalated into a full blown riot at Christie Pits. As the Nazis rose to power in Germany, a series of “Swastika Clubs” were organized out of a canoe club in Toronto and patrolled the Beaches neighbourhood with the intention of harassing so-called foreigners and to “clean up the beaches.” Tensions mounted and several confrontations were narrowly avoided.

About a week later, during a baseball game at Christie Pits, members of the “Pit Gang” unfurled a huge white banner bearing a black swastika. Jewish and Italian youth rushed the banner and tore it to shreds, and the skirmish quickly escalated into a massive riot involving hundreds of fighters and lasting several hours. Amazingly, no one was killed. The riot became a part of the mythology of the city, especially for the Toronto’s Jewish community. Read More …

Report from August 11th Anti-Fascist Mobilization in Toronto

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This is a report on the anti-fascist mobilization against the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam (WCAI) in Toronto on August 11, 2018. It’s written by an individual and is not intended to be comprehensive – for a fuller picture, see reports from Anti-Racist Canada here and here, the Toronto General Defence Committee, No Borders Media (source for the photos), and the video from THREAT.

The story began when the WCAI, which is based in Alberta, called for an “epic rally” in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. WCAI prides itself on putting “political correctness in the trash where it belongs,” and by that they mean embracing the racist label, openly referring to Muslims and immigrants as ‘sewage,’ and calling for extreme violence against anti-fascists. Several racist rallies have been unable to take the streets of Ontario in recent months due to anti-fascist mobilizing, so the WCAI claimed they were flying in from Alberta to lead a coalition of the most violence-prone groups (Proud Boys, Soldiers of Odin, Northern Guard, the Canadian Nationalist Front and the Canadian Combat Coalition) and “take back Toronto.” It was called for August 11th, one year after Charlottesville. Read More …

Support the Flemingdon Park Rent Strike

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On August 1st more than 200 tenants at 31-35 St. Dennis Drive will withhold their rent. Rent strikers demand Minto Properties withdraws its application to raise rent above the guideline. Despite serious and persistent disrepair in the building, Minto wants to raise tenants’ rent by $180 over three years. This would mean that every month Minto would take $70,000 more in rents from the pockets of tenants in the building. Read More …

Toronto: Cops n Klan, Hand in Hand: Report on the July 21 Counter Demo against PEGIDA

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On Saturday July 21 folks showed up to counter a PEGIDA rally – something that’s been happening consistently in Toronto. PEGIDA is the name of a group in Germany which opposes immigration and spreads racist hate against Muslims. Local bigots have been trying to import the model.

When I showed up the number of racists were pretty small – maybe 7-10 people huddled inside a metal fence protected by about 40 cops. Antiracist crews numbered about 60. Not the worst turnout and odds I’ve seen. Read More …

Toronto GDC: Solidarity with J20 Resistance

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On the day of Trump’s inauguration, January 20th 2017, the streets of D.C. were flooded with protesters in what is now a common sight under Trump’s presidency. The J20 resistance and the Inauguration’s disruption symbolize renewal in our revolutionary movement — the disenfranchised are becoming politicized, and the masses are learning to revolt in love and rage. It also represents an escalation of state repression and its attempts to criminalize Read More …

Faith Goldy’s Racist Pals

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From subMedia Alt-Right blogger Faith Goldy, called for a demo at Roxham Road, a site where migrants cross irregularly into Canada to escape Trump’s America. While claiming that she and her friends are simply against “illegal immigration”, this video reveals the racist and white supremacist character of many of those who attended Goldy’s march. [Video can be viewed here on sub.media. Note that to view it requires running scripts from Read More …

Toronto: Who Protects The Nazis?

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From The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund In Toronto at least, it’s abundantly clear that the police protect the nazis. This has been apparent at several heavily-policed events over the last two years there and is becoming so extreme that it’s hard to tell if the people harassing and assaulting antifa counter-protestors at rallies held by Islamophobes and bigots are the nazi rally participants or the kkkops in the Toronto Police Read More …