(A7) A Canadian rabbi who allegedly dumped red paint on the stairs of the Israeli consulate in Toronto as a protest has had his criminal charge withdrawn, the Canadian Jewish News reported.

Hamilton, Ontario Rabbi David Mivasair stood accused of pouring paint on the steps of the consulate during an anti-Israel demonstration stemming from the May conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The 69-year old Mivasair was charged by Toronto police on May 21 after they were called about damage to the consulate’s building.

After his arrest, Mivasair told local media that the red paint represented the “violence by Israel across Palestine [that] cannot be washed away.”

“Red paint streaming from the Israeli consulate onto the street in Toronto represents the blood of massacred innocent Palestinian civilians,” he said.

Mivasair, who belongs to pro-BDS group Independent Jewish Voices, was among several members of the Toronto Jewish community, along with other activists, who were protesting against Israel in front of the consulate on May 20, the day that the ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas, CTV News reported.

The day after he defaced the consulate, Mivasair was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000.

Galit Baram, who was Israel’s consul general at the time, called the incident an act of vandalism.