Charges Dropped for Three More in Indigo Case
After 16 months, Crown prosecutors withdrew the charges for three more people accused of involvement in the pro-Palestine vandalism of the Bay and Bloor Indigo bookstore.
Seven out of the 11 arrested have had their charges dropped.
Four people have pleaded guilty to mischief, with two getting absolute discharges (no criminal record, no prison) and the remaining two waiting on absolute discharges or conditional discharges at sentencing in April.
Defendants had their homes raided by SWAT-like police units in the middle of the night in November 2023. They later launched a legal challenge alleging police misconduct violated their Charter rights, including police engaging in “judge shopping” to get the no-knock warrants after being denied by a first judge.
Now that the charges are resolved, that challenge will not go ahead.
Police initially said they were investigating “hate-motivation” regarding the vandalism, a point widely repeated in news media. The courts found no hate motivation, and hate was not deemed a relevant factor in sentencing.
—By David Gray-Donald
Israeli Military Refusers Tour Canada
Two Israeli youth stopped in Toronto on a 13-city Canada-wide speaking tour this winter, organized by Independent Jew- ish Voices.
Tal Mitnick, 19, was the first teenager to refuse military service since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. He spent 185 days in prison.
Einat Gerlitz, 21, refused Israeli military service in 2022 and spent 87 days in prison.
The two are part of a growing movement of Israeli youth refusing mandatory service in the Israeli army. And they’re willing to go to jail for it.
The two kicked off their tour in Ottawa on Parliament Hill where they urged the Canadian government to stop supporting Israel and to implement a two-way arms embargo.
“I plan to move to Masafer Yatta and take Arabic courses while doing protective presence,” Tal told On The Line of his plans on returning to Israel.
Masafer Yatta is the Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank featured in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
—By Samira Mohyeddin (On The Line Media)
Candidates Endorse the Palestine Platform
Nearly 100 federal election candidates have endorsed a platform recognizing basic Palestinian rights and freedoms. It is part of the Vote Palestine campaign.
The Palestine Platform, endorsed by over 200 organizations, has five central demands:
- Impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel
- End Canadian involvement in illegal Israeli settlements
- Address anti-Palestinian racism and protect freedom of expression on Palestine
- Recognize the state of Palestine
- Properly fund relief efforts in Gaza, including UNRWA
“We are telling them this is the bare minimum that they need to take to at least start addressing Canada’s role in what is happening in Palestine,” campaign spokesperson Dania Majid told The Grind. As of the end of March, 76 pledges were from NDP candidates, six from Liberals and 10 from Greens.
—By Fernando Arce
Oscar-Winning Palestinian Director Attacked by Israeli Settlers in Masafer Yatta, Taken By Israeli Police
On March 24, the co-director of the film No Other Land, Hamdan Ballal, was attacked by Israeli settlers and was badly injured. While in an ambulance, he was attacked again.
Israeli police took him to an unknown location. Following international outcry, he was released the next day.
Toronto resident Anna Lippman was in the area, known as Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, and was also attacked. She was providing protective presence. Lippman, who is Jewish, was not attacked as severely by the Israeli settlers and was not arrested.
Lippman spoke afterwards to On The Line Media.
“What brings me back here is the people, meeting the people here, the children, the elders, the activists, the mothers, all of them, seeing the way that they continue to resist, not just writing articles, sharing their story, but also through these everyday acts of resistance. Continuing to be on their land, continuing their careers, families, lives, and you know, the joy that they find on their land, with their families, with their communities. It’s so beautiful. The hospitality that they give me, a Jewish person, whose taxes, identity is being used to kill their cousins. They welcome me into their homes and feed me, even though they have almost nothing.”
—By Samira Mohyeddin (On The Line Media)
Bubble Zone Bylaw Would Restrict Protest
Torontonians have until May 1 to submit opinions on the city’s proposed “bubble zone” bylaw. The legislation would restrict or ban protests in front of schools, cultural centres and places of worship.
Many worry that it will be used to go after pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
A first version of the bylaw was proposed in May 2024 after protests were held outside GTA synagogues where sales of illegal settlement lands in the Palestinian West Bank were being conducted.
Mayor Olivia Chow supports the draft- ing of the bylaw (though hasn’t weighed in on the bylaw itself) and the effort is strongly supported by Coun. James Pasternak, who regularly denigrates the pro-Palestine movement.
—By Fernando Arce
Israel Breaks Ceasefire, Resumes Mass Slaughter in Gaza
It wasn’t really a ceasefire, given Israel killed around 140 Palestinians in Gaza while prisoner and hostage exchanges were happening. But the winter’s relative calm was shattered mid-March when Israel resumed bombing Gaza, instead of moving to phase two of the ceasefire deal.
“In One of the Gaza War’s Most Horrify- ing Nights, the Israeli Army Killed Nearly 300 Women and Children,” Haaretz reported of the first night.
Journalists, health workers, aid workers and others have also been killed in the attacks, taking place during Ramadan.
Israel killed around 1,000 people in the second half of March.
Earlier in the month, the U.S. sent $4 billion in military support to Israel.
—By David Gray-Donald
Weapons Parts Going to Israel After Suspension
A report from Project Ploughshares shows that a Canadian Crown corporation signed a contract in September 2024 to provide the U.S. Department of Defence “with artillery propellants that will be supplied to Israel. … This agreement was signed after Canada announced that it was suspending arms exports to Israel, which authorities stated would explicitly include weapons transfers through the United States.”
—By David Gray-Donald
This article appeared in the 2025 April/May issue.
