Another alleged Islamist attack on Israel supporters was thwarted by RCMP

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MPs are calling for an emergency investigation into Canada’s vulnerability to Islamic terror after the RCMP thwarted an alleged terrorist attack on a pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that Canada is a high-priority target for ISIS-inspired terrorists,” said a Wednesday letter signed by Conservative members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

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They called for the committee to be convened for an emergency session to investigate “this latest foiled terrorist attack.”

As reported by Global News journalist Stewart Bell, two teenage boys from Ottawa were arrested and charged with plotting a deadly attack on pro-Israel protesters on Parliament Hill. “They allegedly plotted to violently attack Jewish individuals in Ottawa last fall, possibly through the detonation of an explosive device at a pro-Israel rally,” according to a Justice Department filing obtained by Global News, which also included it was said that the boys were in possession of acetone, oxidizer and metal ball bearings.

The arrests took place in December 2023 and February 2024. Although the December arrest of a 15-year-old suspect from Ottawa on terrorism charges was made public at the time, the specific details of the alleged plot were not. Global News only heard about it through court filings.

The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the organizer of several pro-Israel rallies on Parliament Hill, said they only learned of the alleged bombing when contacted by Global.

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The 15-year-old has not been named due to a publication ban, but after his arrest, Global News reported that a Facebook account allegedly belonging to the boy’s father was filled with extremist rhetoric, including calls to get rid of all Israelis.

And the alleged Parliament Hill bomb plot is just the latest in a series of arrests linked to domestic terror plots with alleged Islamic or anti-Israel motives.

In July, RCMP counter-terrorism investigators arrested a father and son who they say planned a “serious, violent attack in Toronto.” Ahmed Eldidi, 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested at a hotel in Richmond Hill where they were in the “advanced stages” of planning an attack.

In September, Pakistani national Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was arrested in Canada as part of a US investigation alleging he planned to carry out a terrorist attack on a Jewish site in New York City to mark the anniversary of the Hamas-led massacres of October 7.

“The defendant allegedly planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7 of this year with the goal of slaughtering as many Jewish people as possible in the name of ISIS,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland . in a statement at the time.

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Canada has also witnessed a spate of shootings and attempted arson of Jewish sites. Last month, Toronto police arrested 20-year-old Helder Antonio De Ameida in connection with a shooting at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School, a Jewish girls’ school.

De Ameida was accused of firing several shots at the school on the night of October 12; 14 shell casings were found at the scene. He is said to have carried out the attack together with a 17-year-old accomplice, who was subject to a release order at the time.

The same school was the target of a nearly identical attack in May, although Toronto police do not know if the two incidents are related.

In July, an Alberta man actually staged an attempted terror attack in Israel.

A video released by the Israeli army showed 21-year-old Zachareah Adam Quraishi brandishing a knife and running towards armed guards outside the gates of the Israeli village of Netiv Ha’asara, shouting: “Liberate Palestine.” Quraishi was then shot dead by the guards. Originally from Airdrie, he had entered Israel as a tourist the day before.

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