The first snowflakes of the year failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the several hundred demonstrators of diverse backgrounds who gathered in downtown Montreal on Thursday to support the Palestinian people as Israeli bombings continue to rage in the Gaza Strip.
A first rally was held around midday on the grounds of the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), where representatives of several groups, including United Palestinians and Jews, denounced the war in the Middle East and described the Israeli offensive in Gaza as genocide.
According to the campus security service, there were more than 150 people.
“We remind you that we are not violent,” emphasized a first responder. The day before, clashes broke out in a Concordia University building between two groups – one pro-Palestinian, one pro-Israel – and led to the arrest of a 22-year-old student.
This clash, in addition to the hateful acts recently recorded in Montreal and elsewhere in the country, has raised the concerns of Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and François Legault, who called for calm on Thursday while calling on police to show force if necessary.
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On Thursday, several demonstrations were organized at various university campuses, including UQAM and McGill.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
At UQAM, students wanted to assert their right to demonstrate and denounced the hypocrisy of the Canadian government, which they accused of supporting Israel militarily and diplomatically. “We can and must take action against the Israeli apartheid regime,” said a young speaker with microphone in hand.
Neil Claphan-Ricardo, who is part of the group Independent Jewish Voices, took his turn at the microphone. Addressing the crowd, he dismissed accusations of anti-Semitism that he said were leveled against those who criticize Israel’s policies.
It was actually anti-Semitic to say that all Jews supported the genocide in Gaza, he claimed. I am Jewish and I say no, this will not happen in my name.
There is nothing more Jewish than fighting against all forms of discrimination.
There was another demonstration on the McGill University campus around 1 p.m. Students from other Montreal universities met here, especially after the cancellation of a planned meeting in Concordia.
According to police, more than 500 people were present at McGill.
Rachel, a Concordia student, was one of them. She came with friends to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in Montreal as well as in Gaza and the West Bank.
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A protester wears a red and white Palestinian keffiyeh around her neck.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
Queer for a free Palestine, we could read on the sign she held in her hands.
“I think it’s very important that oppressed people around the world stand together because even if it doesn’t seem obvious at first, our struggles are connected,” she said.
Solidarity is not a transaction. As a queer person myself, I don’t need Muslims or Palestinians to support gay rights for me to support their rights. Both of our rights must be respected.
“I think it is my duty to fight against genocide, no matter who the victims are,” said the young woman, her face hidden behind a health mask.
Andy Tran is of Vietnamese origin. He marched with the group of Filipinos for the liberation of Palestine.
“We are protesting today because we recognize that there is a similarity between the fighting,” the young man explained, accusing Israel of supplying weapons to Philippine forces who use them to kill innocent people on the streets.
In 2019, several Israeli lawyers, including human rights defender Eitay Mack, filed a complaint in Israeli courts calling on the Jewish state to stop selling arms to the Philippines, claiming that it is a country that violates human rights hurt.
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“Filipinos for Palestine” reads a sign held during the pro-Palestinian student demonstration in Montreal.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
Andy Tran says he began advocating for the Palestinian cause in 2014, during another Israeli war on Gaza. The conflict is not new, but I think it makes sense that so many young people are joining the movement now because the energy is there and the need for a better future is also there, he said.
According to him, the struggle for the liberation of Palestine is similar to the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, when there was the movement against the war in Vietnam or the civil rights movement in the United States.
“It is not our generation that is at the origin of these struggles, but this time our generation may well be the last to fight against injustice,” he said again.
Adam, a young black student at McGill University, agreed: With social media, it’s incredible. I think our generation has a lot more tools for disseminating information and learning about politics.
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Adam, seen from behind, waves his sign that reads: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
“I think this generation is taking to the streets and making their voices heard because we’ve had enough of the hypocrisy of our governments,” he said, denouncing the Canadian government’s silence in calling for a humanitarian ceasefire rather than a ceasefire in the United States Gaza Strip.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, said the sign he held up to the crowd.
When asked about the meaning of this slogan, which was perceived by some Israelis as a veiled call against the existence of the Jewish state, he reiterated that it was a sign of solidarity against any form of occupation.
As Canadians, we know we live on unceded Indigenous land. All anti-colonial struggles are interconnected around the world.
Finally, he condemned those who, in his opinion, want to demonize the pro-Palestinian movement: they accuse us of being violent, when in reality they are the ones promoting the genocide in Gaza. […] They treat Palestinians like animals, like criminals, as if they lack any humanity, and I think we’ve had enough of that.
At 2:30 p.m., the student group left campus to join another group of protesters standing a few blocks away in front of a Scotiabank branch, whose entrance was plastered with posters calling for a ceasefire. -Fire in the Middle East and condemned the arms sale from Canada to Israel.
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Pro-Palestinian signs were posted on the front door of the Scotiabank in downtown Montreal.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
The few dozen demonstrators already there belonged to the United Palestinians and Jews group. They have been gathering every week in front of Scotiabank for the past month, accusing the Canadian institution of investing millions of dollars in the Israeli military industry, particularly in Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer specializing in the production of drones.
Saba, a Canadian-Palestinian citizen, watched the protesters standing slightly apart from the group. With a keffiyeh on her shoulders and a Palestinian flag in her hand, she claimed to attend all pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Montreal.
“I have cousins in East Jerusalem living under Israeli occupation, and I have other cousins in Gaza,” she said. We haven’t heard from our loved ones in Gaza for a while, which is very frustrating.
When I wake up, the first thing I do is look at my phone to see what happened during the night. “I can’t find my happiness anywhere anymore, I just think about Gaza all day,” confided Saba, who works in a daycare center.
The other day a child was crying at daycare, and as I tried to comfort him, I thought of the children killed in Gaza. It’s very hard.
There are people all over the world who show their support for the Palestinians, but our government in Canada is doing absolutely nothing, she denounced. I am ashamed!
His message to Justin Trudeau’s government? Please stop this. Palestinians are people, we are not terrorists. Please, this has to stop.