Montreal Vigil in Solidarity with Gaza Caregivers
Nearly 300 people gathered at Dorchester Square for an evening vigil on November 15, in solidarity with all the medical personnel responsible for providing health care to Gaza residents. Several speakers addressed the crowd, including Ellen Gabriel, a Mohawk activist from Kanehsatà:ke of the Turtle Clan, well known for her defence of Indigenous Peoples in Quebec and Canada. She praised the heroism of Gazans, particularly the medical staff, who continue to provide care even as the territory of Gaza is besieged and the main hospital bombed and occupied by the Israeli army. She denounced the Canadian government's complicit silence in the face of the genocide organized by the Israeli government against the residents of Gaza. This is not surprising, since the Canadian state has a long and continuing history of genocide against Indigenous Peoples right here in Canada, she said.
A Quebec clinical doctor who has worked in Gaza recalled how, for years, international human rights organizations have compared the situation there to an "open-air prison."
A medical student of Palestinian origin then read out, one by one, the names of the more than 220 health care workers killed in Gaza since October 7, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and many others. Other young people came to read messages received by health care workers in besieged Gaza City in the last few days before all communication was cut off. The testimonies speak of the heroism of these men and women who, against all odds, refuse to leave their patients, speak of the helplessness of not being able to go to the rescue of injured people in the street at the risk of being shot at by the Israeli army. Other testimonies decried the Israeli bombing of Al-Shifa Hospital, shaking the walls and windows to the point of collapsing on patients, destroying the resuscitation ventilators and igniting oxygen cylinders that would have enabled many patients to survive. They also expressed the fear of children sleeping in the corridors with their parents because there is nowhere else to take refuge. Others shared reports from doctors from other hospitals, including one working at the Indonesian hospital in the north of Gaza City, where teams are reduced to performing only the most urgent life-saving surgery.
Tribute was paid to the 51 journalists killed in Gaza while reporting what was really happening in the Strip at the risk of their lives, as well as to all Gazans who have died as a result of the Israeli state depriving them of electricity, drinking water, food, medicine and fuel.
The vigil, which lasted for an hour and a half, ended with a
minute silence in honour of the more than 10,000 Gazans killed
by the Israeli state.
This article was published in
Volume 53
Number 22 - November 17, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS532210.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca