2 women say they were threatened with murder and sexual assault following Israeli vigil in Vancouver

A candlelit vigil in Vancouver following the Oct. 7 attacks.

Two Metro Vancouver women say they were threatened by two men who were seen carrying Palestinian flags on Monday night.

The friends had just left a vigil to honour Israel’s dead, and had no idea they were being followed until they were confronted.

“You could see the hate in his eyes,” one of them told CTV News.

They’ve agreed to share their story, provided CTV News doesn’t reveal their identities, because they fear for their safety.

When they were confronted, the woman told the men to “go away.”

But they didn’t, and yelled at the women in Arabic.

“They told me that he will rape me, and my pants will bleed, and I would remember it for a very long time,” one recalled calmly.

“The younger one, he said that he would slice me,” she said.

Among the hundreds of people who had gathered for the vigil were a handful of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

“They were using their flagpoles to mimic the shooting of machine guns at us," said Jordan Grubner of Vancouver, who attended the event.

Vancouver police had a large presence downtown all day, and officers noticed men following the women to their cars.

They were on scene right away, and took two people into custody.

Images of the arrest posted online show the suspects in handcuffs and surrounded by various weapons.

“It's important to speak about this kind of stuff because it's happening all around us,” said Grubner. “This is not not just in Vancouver, there are incidents of Jews being attacked right now all over the world.”

The women are speaking out to warn others, and remind everyone, that this sort of incident “doesn’t belong in Canada.”

“I haven't slept. I am scared for my family, I'm scared,” one of the women said.