Anti-Israel protestors pour 'river of blood' on steps of Israeli consulate in Toronto

Protestors, some of them Jewish, painted the steps red as symbolic criticism of the Israeli government following the recent conflict in the Middle East.

According to CTV News, the man behind the controversial act was Rabbi David Mivasair, a member of Independent Jewish Voices. "The death and destruction inflicted by Israel in Gaza, as well as the heightened violence by Israel across Palestine cannot be washed away," he said in an interview with CTV News Toronto on Friday. "Red paint streaming from the Israeli consulate onto the street in Toronto represents the blood of massacred innocent Palestinian civilians."

Mivasair suggested that "the ceasefire doesn't end the injustice and oppression," adding that "Palestinians are living under pervasive deprivation, domination and Israeli oppression."

"Jews in our communities in Canada are overcome with grief and anger," he said. "Many of us stand in solidarity with our Palestinian siblings. We say loud and clear, 'not in our name.' Israel can no longer continue to commit these atrocities in the name of the Jewish people."

Rachel Small, an activist with World Beyond War, said that the goal is to make it "impossible for anyone to enter and exit Israeli government offices [there] without directly confronting the violence and bloodshed they are complicit in."

Israel's Consul General Galit Baram called the red paint "an act of vandalism, and counter productive to finding solutions." She reminded people that "Israel was forced to defend its citizens [...] in a surgical, controlled manner, in an effort to eliminate Hamas terror infrastructure, while making substantial efforts to limit civilian casualties."

Sources say upwards of 200 people have been killed in Gaza during the recent conflict, with 12 dead in Israel. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire earlier this week.