1 day Ago By Paula Tran
Protesters rallied on Parliament Hill on Saturday afternoon to call for an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict ahead of the Canadian election on April 28. Many wore keffiyehs — a traditional Arab headdress that has become a symbol of the pro-Palestinian movement — and held up signs calling the conflict a genocide against the Palestinian people. Many were chanting pro-Palestinian slogans such as “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
” Some were collecting donations for Palestinian families and people affected by the war. “We are going to make it stop, and the way we’re going to make it stop is by confronting all these politicians, all these media figures that have justified that are enabling the indefensible, that are enabling the mass water of Palestinians, the starvation, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the Canadian support For Zionism,” said Yves Engler, a Canadian journalist and a vocal critic of Canadian foreign policy and issues related to Israel. He was arrested earlier this year on charges of harassment based on social media posts and obstruction of justice.
The rally, one of the largest pro-Palestinian protests in Ottawa, was part of the National March For Palestine organized by several pro-Palestinian advocacy groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Palestine Solidarity Network. According to an Instagram post, protesters bused from Montreal, Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener-Waterloo and Hamilton to attend the rally in Ottawa. It also came after The Associated Press reported that Israel restarted the conflict in mid-March, breaking a ceasefire with Hamas.
According to AP reporting, Israel’s military offensive in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and has displaced around 90 per cent of the Palestinian population in Gaza. Protesters at Saturday’s rally on Parliament Hill said they were frustrated that the Israel-Hamas conflict had not been discussed by party leaders throughout the federal election.
Many referenced Vote Palestine’s election platform, which outlines demands from people who think Canada’s position on Israel and Palestine a top election issue. This includes a two-way arms embargo on Israel and addressing anti-Palestinian racism in Canada, among others. “I’m here to protest the genocide and request an arms embargo from the Canadian government .
.. The protests that are happening are very needed, crucial and relevant towards the Canadian election,” said Veda Chandra of Amnesty International’s Ottawa-Gatineau chapter.
“I want (the party leaders) to hear our concerns, to address their plan and to endorse the Vote Palestine platform ...
I feel like support needs to be garnered. There is strength in numbers, and the more supporters there are it brings justice and a voice to those who don’t have a voice, especially in conflict zones.” Chris Mantil, a protester, said the Israel-Hamas conflict should be a talking point in the federal election campaign.
“I think the conversation of Palestine and the history of Palestine and the occupation and the current genocide in Palestine should be a talking point during this election. I think this is needed, and I hope it pushes for a greater conversation that is not happening right now,” he said. Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
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