Ottawa police investigate Parliament Hill chants glorifying Hamas attack

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Ottawa police say they are investigating an allegation of hate speech that stemmed from a weekend protest at Parliament House.

Police say they received complaints about some of what was said during a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday about the war between Israel and Gaza.

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The protest included demonstrators brandishing Palestinian flags and banners calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

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A video posted online includes the voice of a man praising the October 7 attack by Hamas and its affiliates that killed 1,200 people in Israel.

Police say officers with the department’s hate crimes unit have opened an investigation.

Threats of violence and other illegal conduct are not protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which enshrines Canadians’ right to freedom of assembly.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre condemned the glorification of the October 7 attacks.

“Our attacks of resistance are proof that we are almost free,” a man is heard saying in the video of the protest.

“Oct. 7 is proof that we are almost free. Long live October 7, long live the resistance, long live the intifada, long live all forms of resistance.”

Intifada is an Arabic word with meanings that include shaking off oppression. In English, it is most commonly associated with two periods of particular intensity in the Israel–Palestine conflict, which included a series of attacks by Palestinian terrorist groups on public places within Israel.

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“There is a difference between peaceful protest and hateful intimidation,” Trudeau wrote on X on Sunday.

“It is inconceivable to glorify the anti-Semitic violence and murder carried out by Hamas on October 7. This rhetoric has no place in Canada. None.”

Poilievre also criticized the messages displayed on Saturday, which he described as “malicious.”

“I condemn these anti-Semitic and pro-genocide chants,” said the conservative leader.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh later joined. “I unequivocally condemn those who sing things that are inflammatory, hateful and that glorify the terror and death of October 7,” he posted on Monday.

The federal special representative for combating Islamophobia denounced the comments as “problematic” but stressed that this is a minority opinion.

“Some individual protesters engaged in problematic speech; This is unacceptable and contrary to our shared values,” Amira Elghawaby wrote in X.

“What is also worrying are the deliberate efforts to smear all protesters with a single brush, suggesting that anyone calling on Canada to respect and protect international humanitarian law is aligned with terrorism.”

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Federal envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Deborah Lyons, also denounced the rhetoric.

“Societal reluctance to address the normalization of anti-Semitism and the glorification of terror allows words to turn into violence,” Lyons posted.

“Why would a peace-loving Canadian sing this phrase?”

Several activist groups named in online posts announcing the demonstration did not immediately respond Monday when contacted by The Canadian Press.

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