A year of war in Gaza | A pro-Palestinian demonstration was held in downtown Montreal

Demonstrators flocked by the thousands to downtown Montreal, where a rally was held Saturday afternoon to denounce Israel’s war in Gaza, almost a year after the start of the conflict.

The demonstration, organized by a coalition of pro-Palestinian activist groups, aims to “mark one year of genocide that killed more than 40,000 martyrs,” according to a publication by Palestinian Youth Movement, one of the organizers of the action.

Palestinian flags in hand and wearing keffiyehs, a few thousand demonstrators gathered at the intersection of Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Urbain streets, before marching towards the West. The crowd moved peacefully to the Israeli Consulate General, to the rhythm of drums and chants.

The demonstrators dispersed peacefully after the demonstration, which lasted nearly five hours.

The demonstrators also denounced Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon, which has left more than 2,000 dead over the past two weeks. “I am Lebanese, and my family still lives in South Beirut, so I am directly impacted by the war,” underlined Mariam El-Amine, who marched with the pro-Palestinian group from the Laurier-Sainte-Marie district.

The protester wants the Canadian government to put more pressure to obtain a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. “Words are no longer enough, real sanctions are needed,” she said.

“It’s been going on for quite a long time”

Many protesters expressed fed up with a conflict which shows no sign of easing, a year after the Hamas attack against Israel which triggered the conflict, on October 7, 2023. “It’s been long enough for this to last, it doesn’t make sense,” exclaimed Rachel Ochitwa, who demonstrated with her two young children.

For Benoît Allard, spokesperson for the Divest for Palestine Collective, the activists are not running out of steam, although the pro-Palestinian camps which appeared on campuses and in public spaces this summer have been dismantled by the authorities. “The camps have given new life to the Palestinian resistance,” he said. The fight continues. »

“We want the government to stop taking our money to finance weapons used in war,” said Sidonie Auclair-Gendron, a demonstrator, on the sidelines of the gathering. “Protesting is all we can do to be heard.”

According to Zeyad Abisaab, general coordinator of Concordia’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) group, the number of demonstrators was “between 7,000 and 10,000.”

No overflows

The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) anticipated “excesses” during the demonstration, according to an internal email from the Brotherhood of Police Officers of Montreal (FPPM) obtained by The Press.

But the demonstration was intended to be peaceful, said Rama Al Malah, spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement, before the start of the demonstration. “But repression is increasingly strong against us, both from universities and the police,” she added.

Around thirty demonstrations against the war in Gaza were held around the world, including in Ottawa and Quebec, on Saturday afternoon.

With information from Daniel Renaud, The Press