The protest started at Atwater Street and grew relentlessly as an increasing number of protesters streamed in from every street corner. The crowd, which was eventually over 2,000 people-strong, made its way down Ste. Catherine St.
Many people in the crowd carried miniature caskets, or waved posters of the victims killed by bomb blasts in Gaza.
The crowd moved around Montreal’s downtown core, stopping in front of various businesses that protesters claim support the Israeli government. Chapters and Indigo were two of the businesses the protesters targeted.
Only a small handful of police were on the scene. One officer, who wouldn’t give his name because he wasn’t authorized to speak with media, said he felt security was understaffed and under prepared. “It’s like if a fire crew didn’t bring a ladder to a fire because they assume the fire won’t go past the 12th floor,” he said. “Even though the protest was peaceful, all it takes is only one person who breaks a window, and then it’s all downhill.”
By Arndell LeBlanc
History leading up to the current conflict
In November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved Resolution 181, also known as the UN Partition Plan for Palestine, which provided for the establishment of independent Jewish and Palestinian states with the disputed city of Jerusalem under UN Mandate.
In spite of this, David Ben Gurion led the State of Israel to declare itself a fully independent country in 1948. Israel is quickly recognized by, amongst others nations, the Soviet Union and the United States. Over the following days, soldiers from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan and Egypt invade Israel with volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Libya and Yemen.
Ultimately, Israel signs a series of ceasefire agreements with its Arab neighbours, bringing an end to the 1948-49 Arab/Israeli War. Under the pact’s terms, Israel expanded its borders by roughly 50 per cent beyond what was provided for in the 1947 Partition Plan, Egypt assumed control of the Gaza Strip whilst Transjordan assumed control of the West Bank.
Starting in October 1956, the Suez Crisis unfolds as Israel, Britain, and France invade the Sinai peninsula as well as the Egyptian territory immediately to the west of the Suez Canal. The occupying powers faced pressure from the United States and the United Nations, and UN forces are deployed to the Suez Canal itself. Israel briefly retained control of the Gaza Strip (which was ultimately occupied by UN forces) and some territory around the Gulf of Aqaba. The event was an important milestone in the decline of European colonial power, as well as Egyptian/Israeli relations.
The Six-Day War began when Israel conducted a massive preemptory air strike, on June 5, 1967, to neutralize its Arab neighbours’ air forces. In the ensuing conflict, Israel seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal’s eastern bank.
On the heels of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy and United States President Jimmy Carter led to a formal peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Under the treaty’s terms, Egypt reassumed control of the Sinai, and provisions were made for the eventual independence and self-government of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
With his inaugural grace period barely over, American President Ronald Reagan waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by endorsing full autonomy for the Palestinian people with Jordanian supervision of the West Bank. However, a growing sense of frustration amongst the Palestinian populations of the West Bank and Gaza strip manifested itself as the first Intifada – which lasted from 1987 until 1993.
Palestinians engaged in acts of civil disobedience, property destruction and violence, resulting in harsh reprisals from the Israeli Defence Force. During this period the Islamist militant group Hamas split from the Fatah party-dominated Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). With the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 by PLO leader Yassir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the first Intifada came to an end.
After two weeks of negotiations, the Camp David Accords collapsed in 2000 over the thorny issue of Jerusalem. The result was the Second Palestinian Intifada led by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Civilians died on both sides of the conflict. Ultimately, Israel decided to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza strip in 2005, bulldozing its settlements and establishing economically-punishing border controls.
The death of Yasir Arafat in January 2006, led to general elections for the Palestinian Authority, in which the General Assembly is dominated by Hamas, whilst the presidency is retained by Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas. The United States, the EU, and Israel froze Hamas funds and rescinded financial support for the Palestinian authority. Over the ensuing year the rift between Fatah and Hamas deepened as the Palestinian Unity Government negotiated by Egypt and Saudi Arabia collapsed. This led to a civil war in May-June of 2007, in which the Gaza Strip was violently seized by Hamas, whilst Fatah retained control over the West Bank. At this point, the Palestinian territories were effectively divided into two competing states.
With Gaza under its control, Hamas escalated its campaign of Qassam rocket attacks against Israeli cities like Sderot and Ashkelon. Egypt interceded by negotiating a truce, which entered into effect on June 19, 2008, the terms of which included a halt to the Hamas bombardment and the loosening of Israeli border controls to facilitate economic growth. On Dec. 19, Hamas unilaterally withdrew from the ceasefire, arguing Israel had failed to meet its obligations, and resumed its assault of Southern Israel. On Dec. 27, Israel began its campaign of targeted aerial strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
-Conor Lynch
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