Canada "stands side by side with the State of Israel, our friend and ally in the democratic family of nations," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared Thursday in a Toronto speech marking the 60th anniversary of the renewal of the Jewish state. "As the last world war showed, hate-fuelled bigotry against some is ultimately a threat to us all and must be addressed wherever it may lurk," he told the cheering crowd of 7,000.

He spoke shortly after Canadian Arabs throughout the country condemned Israel and marked "Al Nakba," the Arabic term for "catastrophe," referring the re-establishment of Israel.