EXCLUSIVE: Parliamentary Police Exposed Harassing and Arresting Lone Canadian-Israeli Soldier Advocating for Peace at Hamas Rally; Impose One-Year Parliament Ban (Interview)

In a now all too familiar turn of events, on Sunday, November 12, 2023, Parliament Hill in Ottawa became the stage for a pro-Hamas rally, with a crowd of supporters chanting for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Amidst the sea of demonstrators, one lone Jewish man, 26-year-old Raz Hadar, a Canadian Armed Forces officer cadet with a background in the Israeli military [Former Tier 2 SF Sniper & Marksman at Israel Defense Forces], found himself at the center of a controversy that raises questions about freedom of speech, two-tier policing, antisemitism, and the right to protest.

Hadar, who holds dual citizenship in Canada and Israel, attended the rally wearing a Yellow Star of David that said: “Jude” (meaning Jew in German), a symbol from the Nazi era when all Jewish people were required to identify themselves as such. Despite being there to express solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians while condemning Hamas, the lone Jewish supporter found himself under attack by both the crowd, which was of the far left and Muslims, and law enforcement.

The gathering consisted of a nearly equal mix of communists and Muslims, along with other random Hamas supporters. They labeled Israel as an “oppressor engaging in ethnic cleansing.” Hadar, however, challenged this false narrative, citing statistics that contradict claims of ethnic cleansing in Gaza. He highlighted the growth in the Palestinian population from approximately 350,000 in 1967 to around 2.2 million in 2023, countering the accusations of ethnic cleansing. As Hadar explained,

‘I should have used my Israeli grandfather as an example for someone who experienced real ethnic cleansing… In 1948, the prayers of the Jewish peoples were finally answered when their indigenous ancestral homeland, Israel, became the only Jewish nation on Earth. Many Jews from around the world had become ethnically cleansed from the Arab countries they were living in for generations and many assimilated to Israel, like my grandfather Sabba Ruven, who migrated from Libya where there are virtually no Jews currently living; that is an example of ethnic cleansing.'”

The situation escalated and seemed to upset Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) officers when Hadar, surrounded by a predominantly pro-Hamas crowd, decided to vocalize his peaceful stance. He chanted, ‘Free Palestine from Hamas,’ in response to the crowd’s chants of ‘Free, Free Palestine.’ The Canadian cadet officer can be heard repeatedly chanting for ‘Peace.’ He explicitly states, ‘I love Palestinians and want them to be free of Hamas.’ As Hadar expressed on social media,

Hamas is oppressing the Palestinians who are used as nothing more than human shields and as political tools of manipulation; Hamas is the same terrorist organization who governs, yet shoots Palestinians trying to escape the Shifa Hospital, many of whom were carrying white flags of peace just trying to escape the war zone to the South. Israel has since been escorting the Palestinians to safety under the protection of the IDF.

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Hadar requested that a PPS officer, who was harassing him and telling him to ‘stand far away from the rest of the people viewing the protest up close,’ provide Hadar with his name, but the officer refused to identify his full name. Hadar did not stand away from the rally but told the officer, “No thanks, I think I will stand right at the front.”

Furthermore, when the crowd chanted ‘ceasefire,’ he stated the truth: there was a ceasefire on October 6, 2023. Despite the ceasefire, Hamas fighters stormed into Israel and committed heinous acts, including slaughtering, raping, and kidnapping innocent Jews and Israeli citizens. As Hadar explains,

On the 7th of October 2023, Hamas broke the ceasefire between themselves and Israel to commit a mass murder of ~1500 innocent Israelis, and took ~240 civilians hostage. Hamas is the Palestinians’ governing entity in Gaza who is one of, if not the most barbaric terrorist organization in the world that uses their own citizens as shields and as tools of political manipulation; that’s what this “protest” should have been focusing on.”

Hadar, who is currently pursuing a degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights at the University of Ottawa, believes that his actions were not political but a stand against antisemitism.

While at the rally, Hadar even tried to aid the PPS officers by alerting them to obvious signs with antisemitic statements that are not allowed in Canada, such as an Israeli flag with ‘Nazi’ written on it or even a sign stating that the ‘Palestinian Flag = Hamas.’ Hadar had to educate the PPS officers about what was allowed and not allowed.

During the protest, Hadar was subjected to verbal abuse, with a Hamas supporter yelling “Hey Jew” at him. In a video he captured, Hadar informed the PPS of the incident, highlighting the challenging atmosphere he faced for expressing his views and being Jewish. The officers chose to do nothing.

Despite the abuse from the crowd and his efforts to peacefully convey his views, Hadar was aggressively handcuffed and arrested by the Parliamentary Protective Service officers for trespassing. This occurred even as he suffered from a recently broken back and shoulder; as he explained, ‘I have a broken back and a shoulder. I recently got out of the hospital and had no plans for any kind of incursion there.” PPS officers ignored Hadar’s requests not to hold onto his broken shoulder.

See the entire arrest and the exchange with the officers leading up to the arrest starting at minute 5:05:

Following his targeting by the PPS, Hadar received a one-year ban from accessing Parliament Hill. This move has raised questions about the balance between the right to protest and freedom of speech, especially given Hadar’s commitment to supporting the Palestinians and Israelis while condemning the Islamic terrorist group Hamas.

Exclusive Interview with Raz Hadar

In an exclusive interview with RAIR Foundation USA, Hadar opened up about his motivations and experiences during the rally, expressing, ‘It appears that the only Jew at this pro-Hamas gathering was apprehended for trespassing and subsequently handed a permit barring my access to Parliament Hill for an entire year.’ Hadar raised concerns about the legitimacy of his arrest, underscoring his commitment to exercising his right to free speech.

Reflecting on his interaction with the PPS officers, Hadar explained, ‘They notified me of trespassing and, when I pointed out that others were doing the same, they warned of imminent arrest unless I left promptly. I offered compliance but requested their names and badge numbers. While they provided their badge numbers (#1364 and #1043), their names remained undisclosed. Before I could leave voluntarily, I was placed under arrest. No formal charges were brought against me; I was issued a trespassing permit, preventing my return to Parliament Hill for a full year.’

RAIR has contacted the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) for clarification on the charges brought against Mr. Hadar and the circumstances leading to his arrest. Additionally, we have requested information regarding the rationale behind imposing a one-year ban, preventing him from accessing Parliament property. Furthermore, we have sought information on the arresting officers.

Furthermore, we have requested a statement from the Mayor of Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe, who asserts that his office denounces all forms of hatred and discrimination, refraining from glorifying violence. We seek clarification on whether the Mayor will investigate the targeting, harassment, and arrest of a Jewish citizen serving in the Canadian military by Parliamentary Protective Service officers. Additionally, we are interested in knowing if he denounces the antisemitic rally.

The incident also sheds light on the broader issue of antisemitism and complicit officials. Hadar, who refuses to remove his Star of David, equating it with the symbol used by the Nazis to identify Jews during the Holocaust, insists on confronting antisemitism at both the rally, within his university community, and across the world.

Hadar also took to social media to point out the antisemitism coming from big tech, like Instagram, which, as he explains, ‘has a new Hitler Stash Instagram filter.’ He sarcastically states, “Totally not antisemitic and has nothing to do with the Israeli-Hamas conflict.”

Despite the officers targeting and the radical crowd singling out Hadar, he expressed no regrets for attending the rally and standing up against terror. He explained, ‘If I could change one person’s mind, I think I did the right thing, in my opinion.’

The incident raises crucial questions about freedom of speech, the right to protest, and the challenges faced by Jews and Israelis like Hadar. They often find themselves as targets of antisemitism from Canadians and complicit officials who claim to stand against antisemitism yet single out the only Jew acting peacefully at a radical pro-Hamas rally.