Nearly a year after the start of violent fighting in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, the organization Palestine Quebec invites citizens to loudly proclaim their discontent. “We are here to defend the civilians of Gaza, to say “stop killing children”. This has to stop,” implores Leila Hamidouche, spokesperson for Palestine Quebec.
She is outraged by the “inaction” of governments and wants concrete action.
“The Trudeau government must take the necessary measures and take its courage in both hands to recognize Palestine.”
— Leila Hamidouche, spokesperson for Palestine Quebec.
The demonstration on Saturday afternoon had a particular aim: to demand from the different levels of government an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza, an end to the Israeli occupation, respect for the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, an embargo on Canadian arms exports and the closure of the Quebec Office in Tel Aviv.
It was not the rain that stopped the demonstrators from shouting their indignation loud and clear. (Gabrielle Pichette/Le Soleil)
The new office in Tel Aviv, which represents Quebec in Israel, is described as “an office of shame” by the organization’s spokesperson. She hopes that the citizen mobilizations of recent weeks will have an impact on the situation. “We feel powerless, the population feels powerless.”
“A sick world”
Always present during demonstrations for Palestine, Frédéric is outraged to see “that we can massacre people like that and nothing happens.”
“I think that in general, people are not very interested, they are indifferent. It’s boring to say, but we really live in a sick world.”
— Frédéric, protester
He asks politicians “to do something.”
For her part, Danielle, who has been demonstrating for the Middle East for decades, invites people to learn about the different conflicts in the world and to go out into the streets to express themselves. She also wants the federal government to “respect the right of Palestinians to have a country.”
Currently, 147 countries recognize the State of Palestine. Canada is not one of them.
Concrete actions
In front of the National Assembly, people of all ages responded to the call, from children to grandparents.
A few elected officials were among them, including the deputy for Jean-Lesage, Sol Zanetti, who felt the need to be among the demonstrators. “This war has no point, Gaza is devastated. He believes that in addition to political support, Palestinian citizens must receive moral support.
Zanetti concludes that we must put pressure on the Quebec and Canadian governments. “We need concrete actions.” The closure of the Quebec office in Tel Aviv is one of them.
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