No. 20
November 2023
106th Anniversary of Balfour
Declaration
Photo Review of Worldwide Actions
Worldwide Actions for Palestine
Stop Israel! End the Genocide! Ceasefire Now!
Washington, DC, November 4, 2023
Actions to stand with the Palestinian people took place in more than 300 cities around the world on November 4. Declaring We are millions, we are billions, we are all Palestinians!, people took to the streets demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the lifting of the siege on Gaza and an end to the genocide. In the U.S., where more than 100,000 marched in Washington, DC alone in the largest-ever demonstration in solidarity with Palestine, actions demanded an end to all U.S. aid to Israel.
CANADA
Actions were organized in more than 30 cities across Canada on November 4 to call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to Canada's criminal role in support of Israeli apartheid and genocide and for an end to the siege of Gaza. The call for the national day of action urged everyone to collectively mobilize 100,000 to take part, and more than 100,000 did.
St. John's
St. Anthony
Halifax
More than 1,000 people gathered outside the Nova Scotia
legislature in the first of two rallies in Halifax that were
part of the National Day of Action November 4. They denounced
Premier Houston who had declared his opposition to a ceasefire
in the Middle East. A second rally took place in the evening at
The Wave, with an estimated 2,000 people participating.
Quebec City
Sherbrooke
Several dozen demonstrators gathered November 5 in Sherbrooke, in support of the Palestinian people in their struggle against the Zionist occupier. From Place de la Gare – Lac-des-Nations the group marched to the corner of King and Belvédère streets (Sherbrooke's main thoroughfares), where they remained for nearly an hour, denouncing the occupation.The demonstration then moved to the footbridge over Lac-des-Nations and along King Street, forming a human chain.
Throughout the march, they shouted: Free, free Palestine, Demand a ceasefire now, Stop the genocide, Israel the murderer, Stop the war crimes, Stop the occupation, Enforce international law.
November 5, 2023
Montreal
Nearly 50,000 people took to the streets of downtown Montreal
on November 4, for the National Day of Action in Defence of
Gaza. From the rally at Complexe Desjardins to Radio-Canada
headquarters, a human tide of people of all ages and backgrounds
marched for over three hours, chanting slogans resolutely
supporting Palestinian resistance and accusing the Trudeau
government of complicity in Israel's crimes in Gaza.
Along the way, people waved at the demonstrators or waved
Palestinian flags from their windows. Such was the number of
demonstrators that by 7 pm, protesters were still chanting their
support for Gaza right into the Montreal metro cars! While the
demonstrations attracted thousands of people, the silence of the
monopoly media on this expression of the conscience of the
people of Quebec, further exposes them as lackeys of the war
policy that the U.S. is imposing on Canada. The end of the
march, in front of the offices of Radio-Canada and CTV Montreal,
was an eloquent example.
Ottawa
Since the ongoing bombing and intensified genocidal blockade of
Gaza, an act of collective punishment and genocide against the
Palestinian people by the Zionist State of Israel, people from
both the Ottawa and Outaouais regions have been participating
non-stop in actions to demand an immediate ceasefire. On
November 4, more than 15,000 people once again gathered on
Parliament Hill and marched through the streets of Ottawa.
Before the march, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth
Movement said: "Two years ago, people from Turtle Island were
forced to face Canada's colonial history with the discovery of
mass graves of Indigenous children, who had been forcibly and
violently removed from their homes and detained in residential
schools with the intention of eradicating an entire population,
erasing their culture. Naturally, a settler colonial state with
its own history of colonial violence will support the Zionist
Settler State of Israel, which violently denies the Indigenous
peoples of Palestine their right to life. From Turtle Island to
Palestine, occupation is a crime!
"We are here today because the Zionist State of Israel, with the
full support of Canada and Western States, is currently waging a
genocide against our people in Gaza. In the last three weeks,
the Israeli military killed over 9,000 Palestinians, including
3,700 children. Millions more have been displaced while the
Israeli military continues its cruel bombardment of the Gaza
Strip. Western media will have you believe that the violence
only began a few weeks ago, but we know that the violence
started over 75 years ago when the Zionist militia displaced
750,000 Palestinians from their homeland. Seventy per cent of
the population in the Gaza Strip are refugees who were forced
off their land in 1948. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been
suffocating under a brutal siege. We cannot speak of today's
violence without contextualizing it within the history of
settler colonial violence in Palestine.
"Our demands are clear.
"First, we demand that Canada call for an immediate ceasefire.
Refusing to call an immediate ceasefire is greenlighting this
genocide.
"Secondly, we demand an end to the illegal blockade on Gaza. For
16 years the Zionist State of Israel has imposed a brutal
blockade on Gaza by air, sea and land, with the complicity of
the Egyptian government. Today, the suffocating blockade is
preventing the entry of food, water, medicine, medical supplies,
fuel and electricity. This is a form of collective punishment
against the people of Gaza and it must be lifted immediately.
"Thirdly, we demand that Canada stop arming Israel and stop
funding Israel's war crimes, genocide and colonization of
Palestinian land. Last year, Canada exported up to $21 million
in military explosives and components of military aircraft that
are now being used to bomb hospitals, refugee camps, civilians
and thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza.
"Israel must be held accountable not just for what it is doing
right now, but for its colonization, occupation and ethnic
cleansing and genocide of Palestinians. It is our duty to show
up on the streets of Canada and to join organizations who are
fighting for Palestinian liberation. We will stand steadfast in
our struggle for liberation. No amount of collective punishment
by the Zionist State of Israel will bend or break the will of
our people to live in dignity and freedom. In Canada, we will
continue to struggle for freedom for Palestine, and we will
win!" Her speech was punctuated by thousands of people yelling
Shame!, Ceasefire Now! and Free, Free Palestine!
Other speakers included a group of Indigenous youth from the
Assembly of Seven Generations, a spokesperson for Independent
Jewish Voices, the regional executive vice-president of PSAC,
and a spokesperson for the International League of Peoples'
Struggle. Thousands then marched through the Byward Market,
passing in front of the Prime Minister' Office, CTV, and the
U.S. embassy. Upon returning to Parliament Hill, hundreds of
people sat down on Wellington Street in front of the Parliament
buildings.
Kingston
Toronto
On November 4, the downtown streets of Toronto were peppered with Palestinian flags as people from all over the city converged on the U.S. Consulate. At its peak it is estimated that there were more than 25,000 people in the demonstration.
Thousands
gathered at the U.S. consulate, many with signs, banners and
t-shirts representing collectives including seniors, students,
Jews Against Genocide, Indigenous Peoples, the LGBTQ+
community, with hundreds carrying homemade signs declaring
their condemnation of Israeli war crimes. For two hours as
people continued to arrive, demonstrators shouted slogans
calling for a Ceasefire Now!, for an end to the siege
of Gaza and an end to the occupation of Palestine, denouncing
the U.S. and Canadian governments for supplying Israel with
arms, for supporting the genocide in Gaza and doing their
utmost to prolong the genocide and oppose the world's demand
for a ceasefire. They stated emphatically Not in Our Name!
The action lasted for seven hours, ending with a three-hour sit-in on Bay Street in the financial district where demonstrators demanded that Mayor Chow apologize for maligning the Palestinian community and join the calls for a ceasefire.
Mississauga
Close to 1,000 people, including many youth and families with young children, participated in a vigorous rally and march in Mississauga as part of the national day of action. The event continued for three hours, with the many slogans chanted and speakers' remarks focusing on the demand for an immediate end to the genocide. They called out the Canadian government for its dirty role and expressed the determination of the Palestinian people to continue their resistance til Palestine is free. The slogans included: Ceasefire Now!; Stop the Genocide!; Justin Trudeau, Thousands Dead; You Can't Hide Your Hands Are Red!; Justin Trudeau, You Can't Hide, We Charge You with Genocide!; Every Time the Media Lies, a Neighbourhood in Gaza Dies!; In Our Millions and Our Billions, We Are All Palestinians!
Hamilton
Action was held November 5, 2023 with people participating in
the November 4 action in Toronto.
Windsor
An estimated 2,000 people took part in a rally then marched along busy streets in the residential/small business area near the University of Windsor. Many students and other residents came out of their houses or stood on the balconies of their apartments to cheer on the marchers and raise their fists as they passed by. Others who were walking or driving by did the same, some joining the march -- a sign of the broad support the just cause of the Palestinian people enjoys in Windsor as it does among the Canadian people generally.
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
Edmonton
Calgary
Surrey
More than 2,000 attended Unified for Palestine at the Surrey
Centre Plaza on November 3. Following speeches, an hour-long
march made its way to King George Blvd and back.
Vancouver
Over 1,000 people joined in a demonstration at the Vancouver
Art Gallery on November 4, where many women from various groups
spoke, sang and read poems.
Victoria
Nanaimo
UNITED STATES
Washington, DC
Scroll (bottom row) lists names of all the Palestinians
killed by Israel since October 7, 2023
Los Angeles, CA
New York City
Hamtramck, MI
Evanston, IL
Dorchester, MA
Asheville, NC
Tulsa, OK
Nashville, TN
Louisville, KY
Provo, UT
Tucson, AR
Albuquerque, NM
Las Vegas, NV
Anaheim, CA
San Franciso, CA
Sacramento, CA
Portland, OR
Olympus, WA
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Santiago, Chile
ASIA
Jakarta, Indonesia
November 5, 2023
Taguig City, Philippines
November 3, 2023
Tokyo, Japan
Manama, Bahrain
AFRICA
Johannesburg, South Africa
OCEANIA
Australia
Canberra
Hobart
New Zealand
Auckland
Christchurch
Dunedin
EUROPE
England
London
Leeds
Liverpool
Newcastle
Southampton
Bolton
Bristol
Cambridge
Durham
Scotland
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Aberdeen
Dundee
Cardiff, Wales
Ireland
Cork
Galway
Limerick
France
Paris
Lyon
Nantes
Caen
Besancon
Germany
Berlin
Augsburg
Milan, Italy
Barcelona, Spain
Lisbon, Portugal
Bern, Switzerland
Oslo, Norway
Bucharest, Romania
(Photos: TML, esermhmt, K. Dunne, M. Cafr, No Lore, R.O. Brousseau, McGill SPHR, J. Jardin, @endofsuburbia, S. Maynard, Palestine House, A. Abu, @tyelland, MAWO, D. Currie, Anadolu Anjansi, PYM, A. Lanning, @succzession, @detainput, CPUSA, A. Tommy, M. Klassen, M. Clarem, @cappimpong, K. Bruyneel, L. Steiner, JohnPP5, DSA, WDBR, S. Tra, RevSethDub, @capybarista_161, @milkvamp, J.F. Negrete, Yay Area News, C. Kellogg, @comradecamera, D. Nananan, L. Musa, Kawsachun News, Wafa, @mkimpo_kid, Bulatlat, K. Vegaa, @mileleonaire, 177 Nations of Tas, P.J. Beaver, @sanduMILFshou, E. Starshine, Not Hamudy, ME Eye, Leeds PSC, BNE Independent, A. Snowdon, pscbs, C.B. Margetts, @isaac_kh, @campplassembly, B. Sellers, @Gaudd, K. Paton, G. Ingerson, @calumspictures, @pauljef6, @voice_wales, @socialrightsIRL, Cork Sinn Fein, croidanomurchu, Zaza FL, H.A. Hassira, @OtaeSeven, @loloEscbr2, @14Eelv, @Toufik2Planoise, @revsocc99, M. Del Corno, Esquerra Diara, moona3939, ehelkerngren, 4maybesone, vrafetern)
(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca