Demanding an immediate ceasefire, thousands of people again demonstrated in the streets of downtown Montreal on Saturday in support of Palestine.
Speakers warmed up the crowd which was gradually massing in Dorchester Square, despite the cold weather contrasting with the last few days. Authorities estimated the number of demonstrators at 10,000.
“We need to show our government that people continue to support Palestine,” said Rand, a healthcare worker of Palestinian origin who says she lost several family members in the bombing of the Gaza Strip. .
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Then the crowd took to the streets around 3:30 p.m., first following René-Lévesque Boulevard then Sainte-Catherine Street, surrounded by numerous police officers on bicycles and on horseback.
“Put pressure”
The position of Justin Trudeau, who refrains from calling for a ceasefire, pushes many demonstrators to take to the streets, more than a month after the start of the conflict in Israel, explains a representative of the Palestinian Youth Movement, the association behind the organization of this event, Sarah Shamy.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The latter is delighted to see that the mobilization is not flagging. “It’s not slowing down and we’re seeing different forms of pressure,” she declared, citing the blocking of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge last Thursday as “proof that we are ready to take all means to put pressure on on our governments.
The Montreal City Police Department has not reported any excesses.
The Palestinian Youth Movement is inviting its supporters to a major national rally in Ottawa next Saturday, an event that Sarah Shamy foresees as “the largest demonstration in support of Palestine in Canadian history.”