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.
The Swale Watchers plan to keep watching.
In a smaller city like Prince Albert, Ramadan can feel different.
About 125 people came out for a town hall meeting on health care in Charlottetown Monday night.
This is the second of two-part CBC News report on Taser use by Edmonton police. To read the previous story, click here.
A Merritt, B.C., father is urging parents to be on the lookout for ticks while the weather warms up, after his six-year-old son was partially paralyzed by a tick bite last week.
About that heartbreaking loss to the U.S. at the 2026 Olympic women's hockey final last month, Sarah Nurse says, “that was the most fun I’ve had in a hockey game in a very long time.”
The U.S. government on Monday said electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla and South Korea's LG Energy Solution had signed a supply agreement to build a $4.3 billion lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic battery cell manufacturing facility in Lansing, Mich., with an expected production launch in 2027.
In one small town in Alberta, the assistant principal says teachers almost never meet alone with parents anymore.
Tens of thousands of customers are without power and four parts of Highway 401 are closed Tuesday morning as blasts of blowing snow hit the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
Melody Macsemchuk says volunteers at Grace Place in Thunder Bay, Ont., serve between 300 and 350 meals a day.
Groups of volunteers continue to search alongside police for a man who went missing in late January near Owen Sound, Ont., covering land on foot, and using drones for a view of the conservation area where his car was found.
Jessica Hay says her daughter Charlie loves to be included in everything — and a new accessible shopping cart at her local grocery store in Cornwall makes it possible for Charlie to come along for the ride.
The N.W.T. cabinet says it will review whether or not the territory needs an independent child and youth advocate after a motion by Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart calling on it to establish such a position was carried in the legislative assembly.