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. Read MoreProtesters rallied on Parliament Hill to call for an end to the conflict ahead of the Canadian election on April 28.
Protesters rallied on Parliament Hill to call for an end to the conflict ahead of the Canadian election on April 28.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“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 slaughter 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.
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The Evening Citizen
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.