Pro-Israel activist arrested in Winnipeg prior to attempted counter protest Sunday
CBC
A pro-Israel activist says he was arrested Sunday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights prior to an attempted counter protest of a pro-Palestinian rally.
Ron East, founder of the Israeli Canadian Council, said a group of pro-Israel supporters attempted to stage a counter-protest at the museum, but he was arrested before that rally began. East felt the protest broke an agreement between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups and police to hold rallies on separate days.
"It is what it is, but I'm here," East said Sunday afternoon during a pro-Israel protest in front of the CBC Manitoba building later Sunday afternoon. "I got arrested, got sent into the big house, got finger-printed, had my pictures taken, got thrown into a cell, the whole nine yards."
East said he was charged with obstructing a police officer. He said he parked in an area that said "no parking," while trying to unload a vehicle Sunday morning at the museum.
He also said the officer asked the group to move two vehicles, but East told them that they'd move one of the cars first and the other after because he didn't want their stuff to be left unattended. "He didn't like that, he demanded my driver's license. I asked 'What do you need my driver's licence for, what am I being charged with,'" he said. East said he continued to ask why he needed to provide his driver's license, and the officer arrested him.
East says the incident soured his relationship with police in the city.
Police asked protesters from both sides to avoid squaring off in counter-protests, which they said escalated tensions and ate up a lot of their resources back in October. Organizers were also encouraged to limit protests to a specified location.
Supt. Dave Dalal of the Winnipeg Police Service's special events unit told the city's police board Friday no counter protests have been held since.
CBC News has reached out to the Winnipeg Police Service to ask about the arrest, but hasn't been given any information.
About one hundred people marked the 75th annual Human Rights Day with a pro-Palestinian rally at the museum Sunday morning. It was the second day in a row of pro-Palestinian rallies, as supporters also gathered outside Winnipeg City Hall Saturday.
Sunday's pro-Palestinian rally started outside the museum and then participants chanted "ceasefire now" as they walked through the main entrance. Some speeches were also made inside the building and members of the protest then laid on the floor to represent those who have been killed during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
"The role in today's rally is to let the human rights museum know that they need to have something in the museum that recognizes Palestine," said Ramsey Zeid, the president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba.
Zeid said he and other members of the protest chose to make their voices heard at the museum because they want to see more representation in the space.
The weekend protests came on the heels of Winnipeg police asking protesters from both sides to stay in one location.
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