A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) newsreader has been removed from his on-air job and is facing an internal investigation following a video he posted of an anti-Israel protest outside a synagogue service in Toronto.
Neil Herland, a CBC newsreader, documented himself attempting to enter a service held by The Song Shul at the Meridian Arts Centre, which was protested by about two dozen demonstrators holding signs and noisemakers while chanting, "Free, Free Palestine." In a social media post, Herland wrote that he was met by protesters trying to taunt and intimidate him from entering the building, and that he had been concerned for his safety as a Jew.
The video showed a man shouting "Zionist alert" as Herland approached the building, and Herland was accosted by a man shouting, "You're going to hell" for attending the service, which featured Israeli diplomat and former Benjamin Netanyahu advisor Mark Regev as a speaker.
Herland's social media post also expressed his growing concerns that Canada may no longer be safe for Jewish people. He noted that his late father was an Austrian Jew who survived the Holocaust in Romania and came to Canada as a refugee, and that he had recently obtained an Austrian passport in case Canada becomes unsafe for him as a Jew.
The video has since received 3.8 million views, and Herland's social media account has been inactive since Friday. The CBC has declined to comment on the matter, citing the confidentiality of internal investigations, but a spokesperson claimed that reporting on the incident has been filled with "errors and mischaracterizations."
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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