By Lama Alshami, Vihaan Bhatnagar and Shumaila Mubarak

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, along with a coalition of Indigenous people and allies, occupied the intersection of Queen Street W and University Avenue on Wednesday to protest the detention of Mskwaasin Agnew, a Cree and Dene activist and harm reduction practitioner, by the Israeli military that same day.

Agnew was one of six Canadians detained by Israel after their boat, the ‘Conscience,’ as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was intercepted by the Israeli military en route to Gaza, as previously reported by The Eyeopener. 

Agnew, along with two other Canadian detainees, was released from the Israeli military today, according to an Instagram post made on FFC’s official account. They said the group has arrived in Turkey and will soon be heading back to Canada. According to the post, reports from Agnew’s lawyer alleged she “expressed concerns about poor quality of water and lack of trust in the food provided during her detention.”

According to a press release from the FFC on Wednesday, the Conscience and the other boats had “unarmed crew aboard, including doctors, journalists, and elected officials.”

The rally started at around 3:00 p.m. and went on until late at night. 

Nine arrests were also made at the demonstration, according to a news release on Oct. 9.

Speakers at the rally included members of Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and more.

In an interview with The Eye, Agnew’s mother, Sue Agnew, who was at the rally, said she supports “any decision” Mskwaasin makes.

“It’s really hard not knowing where she is,” said Sue. She said Agnew tried to prepare her for if she was detained en route to Gaza. 

“Mskwaasin’s mission was not just about bringing aid, it was about bringing awareness,” said Agnew’s mother at the protest. “She wants you to know that this is not about her.”

Member of the Provincial Parliament for Parkdale–High Park, Alexa Gilmour, also spoke at the rally, echoing Agnew’s mother’s calls for the flotilla members’ immediate release. 

Rawan Nabil, a Palestinian community organizer with PYM, also spoke at the rally and said, “We know our people are steadfast and we must continue to uplift the demand to break the siege on Gaza, for a two-way arms embargo and to end this genocide.” 

Multiple speakers at the rally said the flotilla has “every right” to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and called the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza “illegal.”

In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed a famine in Gaza and called for an “immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition.”

During a 20-month surveillance period from January 2024 to mid-August 2025, “deliveries of food, water, fuel and medicines into the Gaza Strip were below pre-war levels due to severe restrictions placed on the entry of aid by Israeli authorities,” read a report from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) released on Oct. 8.

In an interview with The Eye, Nabil said Canada has a responsibility to call for the release of the Canadian detainees.

“Canada has not done anything to protect its own citizens…it continues to arm Israel and continues to be complicit in this genocide, even furthermore, by not protecting its own citizens,” she said.

In July, Arms Embargo Now, a coalition of pro-Palestine non-governmental organizations, published a report that revealed Canada’s military exports to Israel, despite Prime Minister Mark Carney claiming—during April’s federal election—that “Canada does…have restrictions, probably from January 2024, on arms exports or permits for arms exports to Israel.”

Nabil said that Canada has a responsibility to ensure their citizens are safe and added that “TMU is also complicit in this genocide and they have a responsibility to also demand this.”  

The Eye reached out to the university but did not receive a comment in time for publication.

A first-year social work student at TMU* who was at the rally said she hopes the Canadian government imposes an arms embargo on Israel and “actually opposes the genocidal state of Israel instead of staying complicit.”

A member** of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at TMU, who was at the rally, said, “We demand action from TMU once again, as we have been for the past two years, to protect its community and to speak out against the genocide and to disclose and divest.”

A voice recording from Agnew while she was on board the Conscience before it was intercepted was also played at the rally.

“We are not afraid. We are unarmed and bring humanitarian aid,” said Agnew in the recording. “The crew on board these flotillas are taking action where our governments have failed to act.” 

According to the press release from the FFC, all of the vessels were taken to the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

“A total of 145 activists from 30 different countries were abducted and are being taken against their will to a country they did not choose to enter,” the release reads. 

*This source has requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Eye has verified this source.

**This source has requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Eye has verified this source.