VANCOUVER, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people gathered at Vancouver City Hall to counter-protest a white supremacist rally against Islam and immigration that never fully materialized on Saturday afternoon.
An unofficial organization calling itself the Stand Up to Racism Metro Vancouver helped organize the mass gathering that drew about 4,000 people to the public space surrounding the city hall, according to the police.
The event was initially set up by several white supremacist organizations, but their presence and racist messaging got overwhelmed by the counter-protest.
Plans for the far-right demonstration started spreading on social media earlier this week in the wake of the deadly white nationalist march in Charlottesville in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia last weekend.
The white supremacist rally failed to materialize except for a few far-right individuals who attended under heavy police protection, keeping them from physically interacting with the anti-racist crowd.
Many families joined the rally, which took on a festival-like atmosphere except for isolated shouting matches between two or three apparent white supremacists and a heckling majority.
Miriam Libicki came to the rally with her two young daughters. She told Xinhua it was the first protest they had ever attended as a family.
"It just really seemed important to stand up and be counted among the people who are for a diverse Canada and for equal rights," she said.
"We are Jewish. The kids' grandmother is Buddhist and we also have Christian religion as well," Libicki said.
The rally seemed like a useful teaching moment for her kids, she said.
"It's hard to try to explain to kids what hate is and what intolerance is," she said.
"I told them there are some people marching who said that Muslims shouldn't live in Canada, and Islam is a religion like Jewish,like Buddhist like Christian, and that she (my daughter) has a friend at her day care who is Muslim."
Kelly Paukszto held a sign in the crowd that read "Humanism Before Nationalism."
She said her sign means that people should value human rights more than blind nationalism.
"I think we're a global community," she said, "I'm just glad to be a Canadian with more people in support of community who came out, as opposed to those who are against diversity."
A man wearing a straw hat and holding a Koran was surrounded and protected by about eight police officers in the afternoon. He, an apparent white supremacist, stood arguing with members of a large crowd gathering around him, many of whom chanting: "you're surrounded by love."
Throughout the rally, no coordinated message promoting racism or denouncing Islam was discernible above the chants and messages of anti-racist demonstrators.
"I'm very proud of our city and our people today," Vancouver Mayor Gregor Roberston told reporters gathering on the southern side of city hall among the demonstration. "This is a huge show of strength for diversity, love and understanding. That's who we are in this city."
He said there had not been much racist or white supremacist rhetoric apparent at the rally.
"I just hope and pray we don't see any violence," he said. "At this point, this looks like this is going to be peaceful, and our police and security are doing a great job making sure we keep the peace here."
