Around 6 p.m., a few thousand people gathered near the Guy-Concordia subway station in Montreal to show their support for Palestine.
• Also read: LIVE | Day 7 of the Hamas-Israel war
• Also read: War and disinformation in the age of social media
• Also read: Israel-Palestine: Approximately 600 unlocated requests for assistance from Canada
The demonstrators began chanting slogans of solidarity with Palestine, but also critical slogans against Israel and in favor of Hamas.
“Israel is murdering the children of Palestine,” “Palestine will live,” “Palestine will win,” chanted the people gathered around the subway station, along with other slogans such as “Justice Now” and “Free Palestine “.
Those present there openly showed their support for Hamas. “For me it is not a terrorist group, they are fighters claiming their land,” a man at the microphone told TVA Nouvelles journalist Yves Poirier.
The organizers contacted the Canadian government. “We demand that Canada stop providing diplomatic and material support to the State of Israel,” one participant told the media.
Others criticized Israel’s counterattack, which bombed the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas’ surprise attack on Saturday. “It goes beyond madness. “Have you seen the photo of the destroyed Gaza Strip?” said one protester.
Despite everything, around 6 p.m., a few moments before the start of the march, everything passed in relative calm, under the eyes of officers from the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), who remained on the sidelines and who are guaranteed to ensure the safety of certain buildings in the area to increase.
From the beginning, the march organizers called for calm.
Ahead of the demonstration scheduled for 5:30 p.m., two independent Palestinian and Jewish organizations joined forces to pressure the federal government and call for a ceasefire, while also presenting concrete actions Montrealers can take to support Palestinians .
Hamas launched a “Day of Rage” call that sparked numerous demonstrations around the world and left authorities fearful of possible riots.
Calls for calm
Public Security Minister François Bonnardel reiterated on Friday that law enforcement authorities would not tolerate calls for hatred and riots.
SPVM leader Fady Dagher also called for calm. “My meetings with the leaders of Montreal’s Jewish and Muslim communities have reinforced my intention to express their opinions freely and respectfully, reflecting the image of an open and inclusive city like ours,” he said Thursday.
Against the war
Earlier on Friday, journalist Yves Poirier visited people in the Petit-Maghreb in Montreal.
“There is no Israel in this world,” said a young man.
While this young man’s opinion was more categorical, that of the majority of people was somewhat less drastic and most simply said that they did not agree with the war.
“I don’t like war, neither for Palestine nor for Israel,” said one man.
“The UN has allowed this to happen since 1948, if they wanted to solve this they would have created two countries,” explained another.
– With Marianne Langlois, “Journal de Montréal”