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The organizers behind Toronto’s annual Al-Quds Day rally are suing Premier Doug Ford for defamation.
Al Quds Outreach Committee Toronto filed a lawsuit against Ford, prepared at the end of April, alleging commentary he made about the rally was motivated by “malice” and displays racism.
The lawsuit refers to comments Ford made in a video released on YouTube in March.
“This demonstration is nothing more than a breeding ground for hate and antisemitism. It glorifies violence, it celebrates terrorism. It has no place in Ontario, it has no place in Canada,” he said in the video.
Ford then called for an injunction to stop the rally from happening. The injunction application was rejected by a judge, a decision that he said he was “extremely disappointed” in on social media.
The lawsuit alleges Ford’s comments place the rally in a “false light” that a “reasonable person would find highly offensive,” and that the premier has “consistently and maliciously displayed racial animus” towards the rally and its participants.
It’s seeking $27,500 in damages from Ford.
In a statement, the Premier’s office said it stands by Ford’s comments.
“The premier stands by calling out the Al Quds Day rally, an event that has long been a venue for antisemitism, hatred, intimidation and the glorification of terrorism. No one in Canada has the right to incite violence or free license to spread intimidation and hate,” the statement said.
An Al-Quds Day rally took to the streets near the U.S. consulate in Toronto on Saturday, despite politicians’ calls for an injunction to prevent the rally from happening. An Ontario Superior Court Justice dismissed the injunction put forward by the attorney general, allowing the rally to proceed. CBC’s Mercedes Gaztambide reports.
Al-Quds Day — typically held on the last Friday of Ramadan — has been described by its Toronto organizers as a show of support for Palestine. The 2026 rally also called for no war in Iran and Lebanon.
Its name is taken from the Arabic word for Jerusalem, and the event has been mired in controversy in part because it was popularized in Iran after the 1979 revolution.
Ali Mallah, a member of the Toronto Al Quds committee, previously told CBC News the event has never been about violence.
“Let me very clearly and strongly condemn any act of terror, or so-called terror, or acts of violence against any synagogue, or a church or any worship place, or even any other civic or institution. It is totally, totally condemned by us.”
