Anger, hope and resignation were all in evidence as pro-Palestinian protesters marched through downtown Montreal on Sept. 29.
“This rally is in commemoration of the Intifada [Palestinian uprising],” said Sami Nazzal, president of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), the student association that organized the rally. “We also want to send a message about the backlash against Arabs and Muslims [in light of the attack on the U.S.], because it’s totally unfair to punish people according to their ethnicity.”
The rally started in front of Concordia University’s Sir George Williams (SGW) campus and drew between three and five hundred people. Armed with banners and slogans like “settlements are illegal,” “684 killed,” “328 houses demolished” and “Sharon is a war criminal,” the protesters made their way towards the Israeli consulate on the corner of Peel and Rene Levesque.
They called on Israel to fully withdraw from the West Bank and the Gaza strip (which Israel occupied in 1967), to stop demolishing Palestinian houses, to stop expanding Israeli settlements, and to respect Palestinian human rights.
“What we want is justice according to international law and the Geneva
convention. Apply it and there won’t be any problems,” said Nazzal. “I would advise everybody to go read the Amnesty International reports, and they will show you how many articles of the Geneva convention the Israeli army is violating everyday.”
“Don’t forget the children in Israeli jails,” said another protester.
Several protesters complained about the Israeli law that automatically allows anyone who is Jewish to get Israeli citizenship.
“The Jews in Israel have so many choices,” said Ghada Shahrour, a Lebanese student. “They can either stay there and live in peace, and stop importing people from outside, or, and this is the better choice, they can go back to their lands.”
However, not everybody agreed with the protesters. One bystander was disturbed by an Israeli flag with the word “slayer” spray painted on it in red. “Why do they have to do this,” he asked, slowly shaking his head.
A woman with him was also shocked. “To blame Israel and to say it is doing wrong to them is very wrong because [Arabs] were the aggressors,” she said.
Another angry bystander shouted at the protesters, his face turning red with frustration. “Bush is going to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget,” he said, “what they think they can go and kill people and then come out and march and tell us we’re all wrong. You ought to imprison these people, because all these people are going to come and try to kill Canadians now.”
“This rally is in commemoration of the Intifada [Palestinian uprising],” said Sami Nazzal, president of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), the student association that organized the rally. “We also want to send a message about the backlash against Arabs and Muslims [in light of the attack on the U.S.], because it’s totally unfair to punish people according to their ethnicity.”
The rally started in front of Concordia University’s Sir George Williams (SGW) campus and drew between three and five hundred people. Armed with banners and slogans like “settlements are illegal,” “684 killed,” “328 houses demolished” and “Sharon is a war criminal,” the protesters made their way towards the Israeli consulate on the corner of Peel and Rene Levesque.
They called on Israel to fully withdraw from the West Bank and the Gaza strip (which Israel occupied in 1967), to stop demolishing Palestinian houses, to stop expanding Israeli settlements, and to respect Palestinian human rights.
“What we want is justice according to international law and the Geneva
convention. Apply it and there won’t be any problems,” said Nazzal. “I would advise everybody to go read the Amnesty International reports, and they will show you how many articles of the Geneva convention the Israeli army is violating everyday.”
“Don’t forget the children in Israeli jails,” said another protester.
Several protesters complained about the Israeli law that automatically allows anyone who is Jewish to get Israeli citizenship.
“The Jews in Israel have so many choices,” said Ghada Shahrour, a Lebanese student. “They can either stay there and live in peace, and stop importing people from outside, or, and this is the better choice, they can go back to their lands.”
However, not everybody agreed with the protesters. One bystander was disturbed by an Israeli flag with the word “slayer” spray painted on it in red. “Why do they have to do this,” he asked, slowly shaking his head.
A woman with him was also shocked. “To blame Israel and to say it is doing wrong to them is very wrong because [Arabs] were the aggressors,” she said.
Another angry bystander shouted at the protesters, his face turning red with frustration. “Bush is going to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget,” he said, “what they think they can go and kill people and then come out and march and tell us we’re all wrong. You ought to imprison these people, because all these people are going to come and try to kill Canadians now.”
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