Several hundred people gathered early Wednesday evening at Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal. They came to denounce the situation in Gaza and Lebanon, where deaths caused by Israeli strikes are piling up.
The cool weather, rain and darkness echoed the anger of the protesters, who loudly denounced the civilian deaths caused by Israeli strikes in Lebanon and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. On site, there were few placards, but many Palestinian and Lebanese flags.
“There is a renewed attention to what is happening [au Moyen-Orient] “Sarah Shamy told the Duty on the sidelines of the demonstration. The organizer for the Palestinian Youth Movement believes that “the aggression on Lebanon shows that Israel wants to extend the war” beyond the borders of the Gaza Strip.
“I really have a hard time understanding how some people don’t see [ce qui se passe à Gaza] “It is considered genocide,” said Anthony, a protester. In his view, the recent Israeli attacks should not divert the international community’s attention from Gaza to Lebanon, but rather spark interest in the region as a whole.
The invitation to this “emergency demonstration” was relayed on social networks by a coalition of organizations, including the Lebanese-Canadian National Center, the Muslim Community Center of Montreal and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
After speeches and the playing of the Lebanese national anthem, the procession made its way along Sainte-Catherine Street, towards the Consulate General of Israel in Montreal, near the Atwater metro station, where it stopped a little after 8 p.m.
Slogans called for “solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance.” Others, more acrimonious, said that “everyone hates Zionists,” associating them with “fascists” and “terrorists.”
The crowd was estimated at 700 people, according to a police officer met on site. At the time of writing, no disturbances had been reported, according to Montreal Police Department public relations officer Jean-Pierre Brabant.
The week started very tensely in Lebanon as strikes carried out by the Israeli army on Monday left 558 dead and more than 1,800 wounded, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel says it wants to attack Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Hamas, whose attack on October 7 left more than 1,200 dead in the Jewish state. While the latter and Lebanon have exchanged fire since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, the attacks have intensified since the explosion of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members last week.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday called for peace in Lebanon before entering the House of Commons. The specter of a “broad war” in the Middle East has many leaders worried, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who wants a truce in hostilities.