Billboard Truck Names People Convicted or Charged in Antisemitism Cases Near Toronto Protests

A digital billboard truck appeared Sunday at a Toronto intersection where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have taken place weekly, displaying images and legal details of people arrested or sentenced in hate crime cases.

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Our focus at this point is to make the expression of antisemitism in Canada expensive, risky, career-terminating, and potentially involving jail time.

The campaign, sponsored by the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, operated near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West, in a heavily Jewish neighborhood. Its screens showed a roster titled “Recently Sentenced Ontario Antisemitic Criminals,” along with mugshots and bail conditions. Other messages warned activists: “Don’t Want to be on this List? Obey the Law!”

Michael Teper, the foundation’s president, called the billboard an experiment aimed at changing how the community responds to demonstrations near Jewish institutions. “Our focus at this point is to make the expression of antisemitism in Canada expensive, risky, career-terminating, and potentially involving jail time,” Teper said. He added that the group would press police to ensure people accused of hate crimes are charged and prosecuted.

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We’re no longer being nice and polite about it, and if the folks on the other side of the street insist on committing crimes including hate crimes, then we will hold our police accountable to ensure that they are charged and that they are prosecuted.

The truck’s deployment followed months of community concern over rhetoric at the protests. Police intervened after clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters. The Toronto Police Service Hate Crime Unit later arrested several people, including Daniela Bonamico and Shahram Nayeb-Yazdi, on charges of willful promotion of hatred and public incitement of hatred. Investigators alleged they retrieved antisemitic signs from a storage locker before marching toward counter-protesters.

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Don’t Want to be on this List? Obey the Law!