No. 36

June 6, 2024

Photo Review -- May 21 to 31

Actions Around the World Demand

Hands Off Rafah! Stop the Genocide!

Sana'a, Yemen, May 25

CANADA

National Capital Region

Hundreds of people gathered at the Ottawa University student encampment for Palestine on May 26 to show support for the students who have been defending what one speaker called "the liberated lawn" at Tabaret Hall for the past three weeks.

A spokesperson for the Association of Palestinian-Arab Canadians thanked the students and said that their actions and the actions of students worldwide are an inspiration for everyone and spoke of positive changes brought about by people's actions:

"Just this week we saw the International Court of Justice demand that Israel stop its genocidal attacks on Rafah. We saw the International Criminal Court issue applications for warrants to arrest Netanyahu and one of his war criminal accomplices. While that's nowhere enough, this type of accountability would not have been imaginable a year ago. As well, Norway, Ireland and Spain announced that they would recognize the State of Palestine, bringing the number of states that recognize Palestine to 145. ... The changes we are seeing are because of all of us, not just in Ottawa but in every part of the world, where countless people have stood up to say: enough is enough!"

A Labour4Palestine representative and member of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees expressed her solidarity with the student encampment. "The student encampments here in Ottawa and around the world are the most hopeful development at this time when our political leaders have basically failed all of us," she said.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) denounced the governments in Canada which are continuing to support and to arm this genocide. She called on everyone to participate in the actions on May 29 against CANSEC where Israeli delegations were invited to come purchase arms from Canadian manufacturers and others. Furthermore, Elbit Systems, an Israel-based military technology company and the primary provider of the Occupation Forces' land-based equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles, advertises their arms at CANSEC as having been field-tested on the population of Gaza.

A student organizer explained that the sole aim of the encampment "is to serve our people back in Gaza, in support of our brave people and honourable Resistance back in Palestine." She said that students have been in productive negotiations with uOttawa for a week which she hoped would result in an agreement with the university administration to implement the students' three main demands — disclosure, divestment, and academic boycotts.

After the rally participants were invited to join in a seminar on student movements organized by the PYM.

May 26, University of Ottawa encampment

Protest against CANSEC armaments show, May 29

Quebec

Montreal

May 25

May 27

Ontario

Toronto

A press conference outside Toronto Police Headquarters on May 22 denounced the continuing state-organized political persecution of the "Peace 11." Toronto police violently arrested the 11 activists in pre-dawn raids on November 22, 2023, two weeks after posters and washable red paint were put on the windows of an Indigo bookstore in Toronto to condemn owner Heather Reisman's support for the Israel Defense Forces and its genocide against the Palestinian people.

The 11 activists were charged with "mischief, conspiracy and criminal harassment" and the case was investigated by the Toronto Police Hate Crimes Unit. At the time the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre called the action at the Indigo bookstore a "vile anti-Semitic attack."

The press conference called for all charges to be dropped against the remaining seven activists after the Crown dropped charges against four of them on May 17, admitting that there was no "reasonable prospect of conviction."

Karl Gardner, one of the four activists whose charges were dropped, addressed the press conference and pointed out that since their arrests, the Peace 11 have had their names and reputations "dragged through the mud" and have been publicly attacked as anti-Semites. He and others have lost their jobs and their lives have been turned upside down. He called for the dropping of charges against the remaining accused who have already suffered grave injustice and added that the targeting of people of conscience standing with Palestine must end. He denounced the Canadian government for continuing to trade armaments with Israel as well as the banks, and companies and institutions like the University of Toronto that are engaged in profiting from the genocide and oppression of the Palestinian people, while across Toronto and Canada and around the world, the majority of people are with the Palestinians. "Today represents the failure of Toronto police and the Hate Crimes Unit to silence us," he concluded.

A speaker from the PYM stated "the real crime here is the state trying to silence and criminalize any sort of solidarity with the Palestinian people." He pointed out that the Toronto police have used force and threats to intimidate people but it has not worked because the cause of the Palestinian people is just and more and more people can see the reality of what is taking place. He reiterated the demand that the Zionist genocide must end; that the Occupation must end, that Canada must stop supplying weapons to Israel and that all humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people must resume.

The speakers affirmed that attempts by the state and its police forces to criminalize the defence of Palestine and its people by the Peace 11 and others who face similar charges will not pass.

On the evening of May 22 many hundreds of people gathered on the University of Toronto (U of T) downtown campus to show their vigorous support for the U of T student encampment for Palestine. Students of most disciplines, faculty and staff, unions and community supporters came out and reinforced the demand that U of T "disclose, divest and cut ties" with Israel. Many students spoke at the rally and made it clear that this public pressure will not stop until these demands are met.

Students set up the encampment to press the university to live up to its responsibilities, as all of humanity is demanding that Israel's war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people must be ended, along with any support allowing the Zionist state to commit these crimes.

Students reported that they were in discussions with the university and there has been some progress and that some students had started a hunger strike to emphasize the seriousness of their demands and the need for action. The students who spoke were confident they would win this struggle because of the broad support they have received and the justness of their cause on behalf of humanity and in defence of the Palestinian people. Nevertheless, they have had to fend off abuse and an offensive by the Zionists and the university administration, alike, as the administration attempts to divert attention from the just demands of the students with its concern that the site be available for graduation ceremonies.

May 22, People's Circle for Palestine, University of Toronto

Trespass notice delivered to Circle for Palestine, May 24

On May 25 another weekly rally and march took place starting at Union Station. Speakers from the PYM expressed their profound appreciation that for 33 weeks, Torontonians from all walks of life have stood as one with the Palestinians and their heroic resistance, in the face of the U.S.-Israeli genocide and have demanded that the Canadian government end its support and funding of Israel. Many new people are joining in action each week as is the case across Canada and the world giving life to the slogan, "In our millions, in our billions, we are all Palestinians."

One speaker pointed out that the people of Gaza and Rafah and the other towns and areas facing the unrelenting bombs and attacks of the Zionist state take courage from the support of the world's people that is broadening and strengthening with each passing day. As he put it, the Zionists thought that they could easily take Gaza but then they found that Gaza had become the whole world. He pointed out that the Israeli military, armed and funded by their U.S., Canadian and NATO allies, have not been able to realize even one of their military objectives and the resistance is now stronger than ever. He emphasized that Palestine will be free "in our lifetime."

The march ended at the U of T student encampment where participants expressed their support for the students who were given an ultimatum from the U of T administration that they must leave by 8:00 am May 27 or face prosecution for "trespassing," and pledged to be there to protect the students.

May 25

More than 2,000 workers, students and community members rallied at Convocation Hall at U of T at 8:00 am May 27 adjacent to the student encampment for Palestine. The rally was called on short notice by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and word spread through social media. The OFL had sent an open letter to U of T President Meric Gertler on May 25 calling for the university to stop threatening the students and continue negotiations to meet their just demands.

A U of T student whose family comes from Gaza spoke passionately of family members who have been killed in the assault on Gaza and of the determination of the Palestinian people to achieve a free Palestine, as well as decrying the ongoing Israeli genocide funded and aided by Canada and institutions including U of T.

OFL President Laura Walton said that the cause of the Palestinian people concerns the workers of Ontario who are participating in actions in solidarity with the Palestinians because "no one is free until everyone is free." She denounced the highhanded methods being used by the U of T administration to sidestep accountability and threaten and bully the students, many of whom are workers and many more sons and daughters of workers whose taxes fund the university. She called on the university administration to negotiate with the students in good faith and be responsive to their just demands including an end to investing in the war machine. In the OFL's open letter to President Gertler he was warned that if the university attempts to move against the students at the encampment, they will "have to go through the workers."

Suzanne Weiss of Independent Jewish Voices denounced the ongoing genocide and the "unspeakable bestiality" of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people. She said that the actions of the students and the ongoing resistance against the siege of Gaza is a fitting response to the attempts by the Zionists and their allies to conflate criticism of the crimes of the Israeli Zionists with anti-Semitism.

A member of the student negotiating team reported on negotiations with the university administration which she said has not negotiated in good faith. She pointed out that in its recent Trespass Notice, the university has threatened students and faculty with expulsion if they continued participating in the encampment but that the students intend to persist until they are successful in getting the University to disclose and divest and cut off all ties with Israel. Even though there was another meeting scheduled with the administration for later in the day, the university was proceeding to apply for an injunction from the Ontario Superior Court to evict the students from the encampment.

Speakers called on everyone to be ready to show up on short notice to defend the students from police attacks if and when the time comes, calls which received an enthusiastic approval from the crowd.

May 27, OFL rally

Some 5,000 people from all walks of life, including a large number of youth, joined an emergency rally called by the PYM on May 27 at the Israeli consulate in Toronto. The action was organized to denounce the atrocities committed in the escalation of the assault by the U.S.-led Israeli Zionist state against Rafah.

The spirit of resistance infused the action, with placards and banners and slogans that affirmed the Palestinian people's right to be. The youth who spoke pointed out that in the face of the criminal and barbaric bombing and attacks such as in Rafah where Palestinian civilians in a "safe zone" were killed and maimed by missile and bomb attacks, the spirit of the Palestinian people to resist prevails and the armed resistance to the siege of Gaza and the occupation continues.

The youth also asserted that the attempt of the U.S.-Zionist forces to overwhelm and exterminate the Palestinians have failed because of their resistance, vital support from Yemen, Iran, Iraq and other countries and the support of the peoples of the world who are standing up. International support, they said, including that of the Canadian people, is essential to smash the desperate attempts of Israel and its funders and backers to crush the Palestinian people. They condemned the Canadian government for its continuing arms trade with Israel and complicity with the U.S.-Israeli genocide.

From the consulate demonstrators marched, chanting Hands off Gaza, Hands off Rafah!, Trudeau, Trudeau, You Can't Hide, We Charge You with Genocide!, Netanyahu You Will See, Palestine will be Free! and other slogans, to the site of the student encampment at U of T.

May 27

Hundreds of people participated in an emergency rally and march for Rafah on May 31 called by the PYM. The action began at the intersection of King and Bay streets, where major banks such as Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC and others, implicated in Israel's genocide against the Palestinians Israel have their headquarters. Scotiabank, which is heavily invested in Elbit Systems, Israel's largest weapon's manufacturer which supplies the Israeli Occupation Force with artillery, drones and ammunition was particularly denounced.

The rally began with short speeches denouncing Canada's cowardly support for the U.S./Israeli genocide against the Palestinians. Participants chanted slogans including: No More Business As Usual! Enough is Enough!, Not Another Nickel, Not Another Dime, No More Money for Zionist Crimes! Not a Single Dollar, for Israel's Slaughter! Justine Trudeau You Can't Hide, We Charge you with Genocide! Stop Bombing Gaza Now!, Stop Bombing Rafah Now!

Following the rally, the participants marched south to Union Station where they occupied the main concourse for several hours listening to speeches and chanting slogans including Ceasefire Now!, Stop Bombing Rafah!, End the Occupation! Several PYM activists spoke there, flanked by members of Jews Say No to Genocide, Jews for a Free Palestine and other groups. They emphasized that in spite of the ongoing barbarism of the U.S./Zionist bombing and killing of Palestinian civilians and the escalation of the assault on Rafah, the Palestinian resistance continues to defeat the plans of the Zionist war criminals and their U.S., Canadian and western allies.

The steadfast support of the Canadian people and people around the world is vitally important to the struggle of the Palestinian people, including the support of Yemen and the ongoing historic support of Cuba. The PYM representative made a point of thanking the Cuban government and people for their ongoing support for the Palestinian cause and denounced the U.S. for its criminal blockade and vilification of Cuba for its just internationalist stands.

Speakers called on everyone to step up their efforts and continue to speak out for the Palestinians whose liberation will be "seen in our lifetime."

May 31, Rally and occupation of Union Station

Hamilton

May 28

Sudbury

May 29

Windsor

Around 80 people came out to an emergency rally and vigil held at the Liberation Zone on the University of Windsor campus on the evening of May 27. The action was called as part of a Day of Mourning declared by the University of Windsor Palestinian Solidarity Group in response to Israel's bombing of a tent camp in Rafah where at least 45 Palestinians, most of them women and children, were burned alive as the tents in which they were sheltering went up in flames.

Speakers at the rally included several young people with family in Gaza and other parts of occupied Palestine. One said that 86 of his family members had been killed since Israel launched its genocidal assault on Gaza. All who spoke expressed outrage that Israel, a serial violator of international law, including orders expressly issued to it under the Genocide Convention by the International Court of Justice, is able to continue its war of extermination with impunity.

Students expressed indignation that the University of Windsor administration was not taking their demands for financial and academic divestment from Israeli genocide and occupation seriously, saying it was Day 19 of the encampment and still the president had not met with them to discuss their demands.

University of Windsor student encampment, May 24

Others who spoke emphasized the importance of everyone staying active, speaking out and holding governments like Canada’s that are aiding and abetting genocide to account, given the failure of the United Nations system to stop Israel. This makes clear, one of the speakers said, that our fight must also be to bring into being a new world order where the principles the United Nations was founded to uphold are upheld, and the rights of all nations and peoples are guaranteed, with no space for anyone to maraud lawlessly on the basis of "might makes right," the way the U.S. and the imperialist camp it leads do today. Through their courageous resistance and struggle for national liberation, the speaker said, the Palestinian people are making an important contribution to the fight of the world’s people to bring down that destructive old order and create the new one that humanity needs.

May 27

On May 31 as the University Senate met inside Toldo Hall on campus, students held a high spirited picket for several hours outside, with a "checkpoint" set up for all those entering the building to pass through -- a reminder of how Palestinians’ movement in their occupied homeland is restricted and controlled under the occupier’s apartheid rules.

Over the past week the students have received important support from the University of Windsor Student Alliance and from some 70 faculty and instructors who signed an open letter to the president and governing bodies of the university calling on them to refrain from any use or threat of force against the encampment, and to meet with the students regarding implementation of their demands. Following a presentation by a delegation from the encampment to its May membership meeting, the Windsor and District Labour Council also wrote a letter to the University President calling for him to engage in good faith negotiations with the students. It noted that in response to campaigns by its students and workers in the 1980s, the University of Windsor became the first university in Canada to divest from apartheid South Africa and it was time to continue that proud tradition of leadership now.