St. Patrick’s day weekend rally for Palestine

Anusha Siddiqui: Senior Reporter

About 200 people gathered in downtown Toronto on March 16 in support of Palestine and to hold the Canadian government accountable.

It was the 22nd weekend protest organized by Palestinians and allies of Palestine, including the group, Irish 4 Palestine.

The media spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement, Mohammed William, said Canada is playing a part in “what the ICJ has called, plausibly a genocide” by funding and arming Israel.

“Since October, Canada has sent over $28.5 million in arms to Israel. We’re here to demand a ceasefire, an arms embargo and a lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip,” William said.

He said his family in the West Bank was also facing the brunt of “colonial violence, settler terrorism, dispossession, home demolitions, checkpoints and so forth.”

Irish solidarity flags, Jewish solidarity flags, and Palestinian flags waved in the air as people chanted slogans such as, “Justin Trudeau pick a side, justice or genocide” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” to the beats of drums that echoed in the air.

The gathering increased throughout the day and reached more than 800 protestors.

The march began at Union Station through an undisclosed route. There was a heavy police presence.

Sarah Ovens, a Jewish woman, attended the protest with her sister and two young children.

She said certain Jewish communities emphasized the connection between Judaism and Israel, but she was now unlearning it.

“It wasn’t until I was older that I started learning more about the history of Israel and what’s happening now with the occupation,”

Ovens said. She said her grandfather was a Holocaust survivor and taught her to support the oppressed and those fighting for their freedom.

“I’m here because I’m Jewish, not despite the fact that I’m Jewish in some ways,” Ovens said.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed in a recent analysis that famine is imminent in Gaza.

The IPC is a collaboration between governments, NGOs, and UN agencies to assess hunger and malnutrition.

Half of Gaza, more than a million people, are experiencing a critical food shortage and are at risk of starvation, the IPC report said.

A report from Oxfam International, a global human rights organization, said Israel was actively stopping the delivery of international aid to Palestinians in at least seven deliberate ways.

Mohammed William said the atrocities on Palestinians were unprecedented, but the pressure on governments around the world was mounting.

“Our recent demand that Canada reinstates its funding to UNRWA has been met,” he said.

William said the prospects of on-ground change were unfortunately in the hands of leaders like Trudeau, Netanyahu, and Biden.

“They have the power to make this go away overnight. Just by lifting the siege, allowing aid and imposing an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” he said.