Photo Review

Canadians and Quebeckers' Steadfast Support for Palestine in March and April

Posted below are reports and photos from just a few of the weekly and other ongoing actions, from coast to coast in March and April. These actions are in support not only of the Palestinian people, especially those living in Gaza, but also the Iranian and Lebanese people targeted by U.S. and Israeli aggression.

TML encourages everyone to continue sending in their reports and photos, as well as posters for coming events that can be posted on the Calendar of Events. Upcoming actions in May include a May 9 Day of Action calling on the Canadian Labour Congress to declare trade, services and relationships with Israel to be "hot cargo" that workers should not handle. Actions on and around May 15 are being organized to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), the ethnic cleaning and displacement of the Palestinian people to establish the state of Israel.

Montreal

March 21, 2026

Hundreds of people marched through the streets of downtown Montreal on March 21, to loudly and clearly voice their firm opposition to the U.S./Zionist aggression against Iran and Lebanon. USA, Get Out! Iran Is Not Yours! USA, Get Out! Lebanon Is Not Yours! the demonstrators chanted. Throughout the march, they were greeted and supported by passers-by who stopped to take photos, raise their fists and applaud.

Symbolically, the demonstration ended in front of Immigration Canada offices. Thousands of refugees and asylum seekers are forced to leave their countries, fleeing wars of aggression and regime change orchestrated by the countries of the genocidal G7 and NATO, including Canada.

Many people pointed out that the struggle for peace does not involve massacres, aggression, drones, bombings and destruction, reminding us that peace lies in our unwavering resistance.

March 29

The Palestinian people's just claim on their homeland and their right of return was militantly affirmed on March 29, with a march to mark Land Day and to oppose the U.S./Israeli war on Iran and Israel's breach of its ceasefire with Lebanon. Land Day commemorates the 1976 strike and protests against the confiscation of Palestinian land by Israel, in which the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed six Palestinians. It symbolizes the resistance of the Palestinian people and their attachment to their land, as well as their determination to remain there and for those forced out to return.

Ottawa

March 28

Ottawa demonstrators marked Land Day on March 28. They also denounced the aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran. They argued that the modus operandi of the two aggressors is the same as in Gaza, in that they deliberately target children, hospitals, paramedics, journalists and civilian infrastructure.

They affirmed the right of the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iranian peoples to resist, and hailed the successes of resistance movements in pushing back the occupier and the invader, with the ultimate goal of defeating them and contributing to the liberation of all humanity.

April 2

A vigil was held on the evening of April 2 at the Human Rights Monument to honour three journalists in Lebanon who were intentionally killed on March 28 by Israeli forces. One of the organizers pointed out: "The tireless work of journalists such as those who stood in the line of fire in Gaza, where 270 journalists have been killed, was to expose and document Israeli crimes. For years, Fatima Ftouni, Ali Choeib and Mohammad Ftouni have reported from every village and town in south Lebanon, bringing stories from the south and the Resistance to the rest of the world. Israel has been ignoring the most basic rules of international law by targeting civilians carrying out their professional duty and they continue to do so with full impunity."

She went on to condemn the recent Knesset discriminatory decision to promote the death penalty for Palestinians as further proof of Israel's utter disregard for humanitarian and international law. "To promote the death penalty based on ethnicity is something that has not existed since Nazi Germany," she said. She said that "We must continue to fight. It is not enough for our government to half-heartedly condemn Israel's disregard for international law. We continue to demand sanctions on Israel now!"

April 8

On April 8, an emergency action for Lebanon, Gaza and Iran was held.

April 11

An action was held in Ottawa on April 11, for Hands off Al-Aqsa Day. At the Human Rights Monument, a speaker pointed out that for 40 days the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the fourth holiest site in Islam, had been closed to worshippers. Even after its opening, the violence has not stopped, he said, as settlers continue to intimidate worshippers. He pointed out that other across Jerusalem, churches and other holy sites are also being attacked.

"While this intimidation unfolds, the violence continues elsewhere. In Gaza, most recently, a child was gunned down in a classroom. In Lebanon, indiscriminate bombing has killed over 300 people, more that 200 of them women and children. Multiple reporters and medical teams have been bombed. They want to erase us, our culture, our heritage. They're not going to be able to do that, as long as there are people like us, with conscience, they cannot erase us," he stated.

While the people marched, the police relentlessly slowed down the pace of the march and negotiated in bad faith with the organizers. A few hours earlier, the police had completely closed MacKenzie Ave. in front of the U.S. Embassy to allow Zionist elements that support the restoration of the reviled Iranian monarchy to take to the street to express their support for genocide and war. This interference of the police with those marching for peace and justice was firmly condemned by all those present and, unperturbed, they made their voices heard and will continue to do so: Hands Off Al-Aqsa! Hands Off Gaza! Hands Off Palestine! Hands Off Lebanon! Hands Off Iran!

April 17

On April 17, people gathered at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa to mark Palestinian Political Prisoners' Day. A spokesperson for the Alliance of Health Workers for Palestine stated that a large number of doctors and other health care workers are incarcerated in Gaza. She said she prefers to call them detainees, explaining that it is part of the daily reality for Palestinians to be harassed, humiliated, arrested and tortured by the Zionist occupier.

She condemned the infamous law passed by the Knesset on March 30 authorizing hanging for Palestinians, saying that the law now makes legal what had already been carried out in the past in the form of killings and summary executions. She added that the situation of Palestinian detainees should be seen as an integral part of the Palestinian resistance and the struggle for liberation.

People then marched through the downtown streets, denouncing Prime Minister Mark Carney for his government's complicity in the crimes against humanity being committed by Israel and the United States against Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, and chanting, among other slogans, Money for Health Care and Education, Not for War and Occupation! and Viva, Viva Palestina!

Toronto

On March 28, Liberate Forty-Eight organized a protest at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto to demand that the IOF keep its hands off the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and to commemorate Land Day.

This year's protest had even more significance due to the unprecedented and inhumane actions of the Zionist state to shut the doors of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most holy site in Islam, as a provocation against Palestinian worshippers during Ramadan. Speakers pointed out that this attempt to undermine the Palestinian people's resistance will fail.

Palestinian youth organizers spoke passionately to the crowd of hundreds, assuring them that despite the suffering and destruction caused by the U.S.-backed Israeli Zionist genocide and every injustice, Palestinians will remain steadfast in their resistance until Palestine is free.

The demonstrators chanted: Palestine Will Be Free, from the River to the Sea! Free, Free Al-Aqsa! and There Is Only One Solution, Intifada Revolution! The shouts of the demonstrators drowned out the small state-organized assembly of "counter-protesters" chanting in favour of genocide, bombings and regime change in Iran.

April 16

On April 16 in Toronto teachers protested at the Annual General Meeting of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) to demand it immediately stop investing in war crimes and genocide, including the slaughter of children. They made it loud and clear to OTPP president Jo Taylor that he cannot continue ignoring teachers and their unions demanding divestment. They also demanded that he immediately stop promoting the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), a bank that exists to fund aggression and war, that Canada is going to host.

In 2024, the BDS Coalition Canada reported that "Five public sector pensions, one in BC and four in Ontario, have almost a quarter of a billion dollars invested in companies that the UN has indicated are complicit with supporting illegal Israeli settlements (war crimes) and over $2 billion in total invested in companies complicit with war crimes and arming Israel."

The OTPP in particular has $14,708,522 invested in four companies in the UN database, and a total of $628,508,625 invested in more than a dozen companies identified by anti-war activists as complicit in occupation and/or arming Israel. This amounts to some $643.2 million "invested" in the commission of war crimes and genocide.

Sarnia

April 18

Windsor

Calgary

March 23

April 19

Bi-weekly rallies in Calgary to stand with Palestine are ongoing. On April 19, the rally highlighted the issue of Palestinian political prisoners, as well as demanding an end to all hostilities against Iran and Lebanon.

Edmonton

A militant rally was held outside the Edmonton Police Services (EPS) headquarters on March 14 to denounce Edmonton Chief of Police Warren Driechel for his recent trip to Israel and unforgivable statements about what he "learned." Speakers at the rally were from the Palestinian community, Bear Claw Beaver Hills House, Independent Jewish Voices and a representative of the Arcangelo family who have been actively fighting for justice following the fatal shooting of Mathios (Matt) Arcangelo by an EPS officer in 2024.

Speakers emphasized that the revelation of the police chief's Israel trip was shocking but not surprising given how the EPS has responded to demonstrations supporting the Palestinian resistance as well as ongoing police violence and impunity, especially towards unhoused, Indigenous and Black community members. The Arcangelo family representative explained that the burden of holding police to account falls on the grieving family, including high legal costs. Speakers also stressed the interplay between Canadian colonial policing and Israeli technologies and techniques which have been "field tested" against the Palestinian people. Speakers expressed their disgust but also incredulity at the brazen manner in which the police chief and EPS tried to defend the indefensible.

Driechel traveled to Israel in February on a trip organized by the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), an organization of police executives in North America. EPS issued a statement claiming that, "The police chiefs attending the trip had the opportunity to gain insights into local policing in a highly complex environment, including critical incident response, threat preparedness and community engagement. The purpose of the trip was educational."

As if this was not outrageous enough, Driechel had the utter gall to say that his "big takeaway was... how do [police] build that connection to all of their community, including the Muslim people that live within Israel." The crimes of the Israeli police against the Palestinian people are well documented and well known, yet the chief of police does not even recognize the Palestinian people and their rights.

Reaction was immediate. The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) shared an open letter signed by at least 26 organizations demanding that the police chief must answer for his actions or resign. Mayor Andrew Knack said that he was frustrated and disappointed in how the Chief of Police had severed trust with the Palestinian community.

"For many Edmontonians, the violence in the West Bank and Gaza is not distant. Families in our community are grieving and are worried about loved ones who are living among unimaginable hardships. Decisions like these cause real hurt, damage relationships with communities that already feel marginalized, and break trust," Knack said. City councillors also spoke out to express their opposition to the actions of the Chief of Police, and the Police Commission agreed to review how such trips are approved.