Jewish protesters against arms deliveries to Israel arrested in Ottawa

The demonstrators, members of the “Coalition of Jews Who Say No to Genocide,” sat side by side at the entrance to the Confederation Building, which houses dozens of federal MPs’ offices.

Protesters crowded the building’s lobby and interior stairways as lawmakers and staff arrived for work Tuesday morning. The organizers of the demonstration indicated that the location had been chosen to convey their message directly to the deputies.

Last September, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, declared that Canada would limit the entry into the Gaza Strip of weapons and ammunition manufactured in Canada, while the American State Department had just approved the purchase and sale of 50,000 highly explosive mortar cartridges with detonators made in Quebec.

The Parliamentary Protective Service said all 14 people detained were served with trespass notices and released. The department referred any questions about the charges to the Ottawa Police Service, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.