No. 31

May 23, 2024

Photo Review -- May 10 to 21

Actions in Canada and Around the World to End Ongoing Nakba and Stop Genocide

Montreal, Nakba Day march, May 15

CANADA

National Capital Region

Several hundred people gathered on May 15 at the student encampment in front of Tabaret Hall at the University of Ottawa for the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, which continues with the ongoing occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. A Palestinian flag flew high above a makeshift stage, where signs bore the names of children whose lives have been cut short by the Zionist forces.

Several people spoke about their personal experience with the Nakba, or that of their parents or grandparents. It was pointed out that this commemoration is like no other, coming as it has on the heels of over seven months of ongoing genocide. The spirit that prevailed was that Palestinians refuse to surrender and that return is inevitable and the resolve to liberate Palestine only grows stronger with each passing day.

A woman described her grandfather's escape to Canada with his family following the Nakba. Amongst other things she said, "The Nakba continues, but so do we. In our thousands and in our millions, we carry the pain of the Nakba and the anger at the Zionist regime's brutal siege of Gaza and the genocide of Palestinians and we will continue to fight for a free Palestine, until it is no longer a longing, but a reality."

Another young woman denounced the hypocrisy of those countries allied with the U.S. and its warmongering as they continue to speak about democracy, human rights and international law, while the U.S. and others fund and provide weapons to Zionist Israel that allow it to commit these massacres in Gaza. "Western governments are not only complicit, they are active members," she said. "Just yesterday, Canada recognized Israel 'Independence Day,' a day that was celebrated at the cost of our people. Canada has turned a blind eye to all human rights violations committed by the Zionist regime. This complicity extends to organizations and institutions, like this very university that funds the war machine."

People once more boldly marched through the streets of downtown Ottawa, through the Rideau Street shopping area, past the Prime Minister's office and up Laurier Avenue where, the day before, the City of Ottawa shamelessly hoisted the genocidal Zionist flag.

Nakba Day march, May 15

Also on May 15, students held a press conference at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) encampment to report on the university’s response to its demands and to mark the 76th commemoration of the Nakba. Student and faculty representatives spoke.

Layan Ibrahim of the Palestinian Student Association uOttawa said that the ongoing Nakba is not a metaphor but the assertion of an existing reality, not a frozen moment in history, that Nakba Day is more than a day of mourning for a past injustice, it is a day of renewal of the struggle for a free Palestine. She denounced the hypocrisy of the university which teaches about democracy and human rights and international law while investing in companies that profit from Israeli war crimes.

Bessan Jasser of Students for Justice in Palestine Carleton expressed solidarity with the uOttawa students and their demands that the university disclose and divest. Jasser denounced the university administrations in Canada and elsewhere who are using police violence instead of listening to their students and ending their complicity and asked people to remember that Israel has destroyed all 13 universities in Gaza as part of their aim to destroy the future of Palestine.

Susanne Spronk, past president of the Association of Professors of uOttawa (APUO) brought their unequivocal support for the right of students and faculty to protest at the uOttawa campus and for the students’ calls for transparency and divestment from corporations complicit in human rights abuses. She said that the APUO calls on the university administration to respect the encampment as a legitimate and peaceful form of protest and to participate in good faith, transparent and meaningful dialogue with the students.

Nir Hagigi, president of Independent Jewish Voices at Carleton said that they are standing in solidarity with the uOttawa students’ demands for an end to their institution's complicity and genocide.

Sumayya Kherieddine, president of INSAF uOttawa reported that after 16 days of occupation of Tabaret lawn students were able to meet with the university’s chief investment officer to discuss their demands. During the meeting the administration stressed its responsible investment guidelines as well as its commitment to neutrality. The implication is that the students’ demands are unreasonable and difficult to implement despite the fact that uOttawa has already committed to divesting from fossil fuels. The students insisted and got an agreement that the university’s full investment list would be released on May 17.

She concluded: “We need you all to continue showing up and supporting the students as they navigate negotiations with the university administration. Our power is in numbers. Our power is together until liberation and return.”

Ottawa students' press conference, May 15

On May 18 hundreds gathered at the Human Rights Monument for the No Rest Until Liberation demonstration.

Before the march, as people arrived, discussed among themselves, and shouted slogans against the genocide of the Palestinian people, a speaker pointed out: "We have been here for more than seven and a half months, and when I am asked why we will not stop, I answer that we want to be on the right side of history. The government keeps talking about two sides. They are right. There are two sides. There is the oppressor, and there is the oppressed. There are the colonizers and there are the colonized. And this is the side I want to be on."

He went on to denounce statements made by local politicians and others to the effect that people standing for Palestine and demanding an end to the genocide are being paid to protest. "Such accusations are shameful and it is disgusting that our politicians, our so-called leaders, go on TV while they are raising the flag of a genocidal State."

He called on people to support the student encampment at uOttawa by spending some time there during the week. Participants then marched up Laurier to the uOttawa campus, marching through the campus itself, expressing their support for the student encampment and calling on the university to stop threatening students, to respond to their demands. They shouted, among other slogans, Disclose, Divest! We Will Not Stop! We Will Not Rest!

Demonstration marches through campus (1st photo above), May 18

Nova Scotia

Halifax

On May 12, students from Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, the University of King's College, Mount Saint Vincent University and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design set up an encampment in the Dalhousie University Studley Quad. These students have formed the collective Students for the Liberation of Palestine Kjipuktuk (SLPK) to call on their universities to disclose and divest from all settler-colonial projects, including the Zionist state of Israel.

They stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and recognize that the Palestinian struggle is linked with that of the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. They stand with the students of Palestine, recognizing the horror that there are no universities left standing in Palestine. They recognize that universities and colleges are places of higher learning and the advancement of humanity and that engaging in genocide is participating in the lowest form of human thinking and attempting to drive humanity backwards.

Over 20 faculty and staff marched to the encampment to demonstrate to the world that they stand with their students, and that they too are against the genocide in Palestine and the universities’ contribution to funding Israel. On May 16, over 250 people at the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) annual general meeting passed two motions. The first condemns antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism and violence against civilians including Israeli attacks on Palestinian hospitals, universities, heritage sites, schools and publishing houses and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The second motion calls on the university to end all partnerships with Israeli academic institutions and to boycott and divest from all Israeli companies.

The third motion, which was not discussed or voted on due to lack of time, was for Dalhousie to support Palestinian students by providing scholarships for Palestinian students to continue their education at Dalhousie, providing financial supports for Palestinian students, and supporting Palestinian educational instructions by offering virtual instruction, exchanges, library sharing, and more.

Some DFA members shared their view that this motion would have also passed.

Many community members come to the encampment to support the students and engage in discussion, programming, and cultural sharing. At the opening of the encampment the students named the liberated zone of Dalhousie Al Zeitoun University. Al Zeitoun is the Arabic word meaning olive.

In March, the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) Council passed a motion submitted by the Dalhousie Palestinian Society and supported by over 22 societies and student groups, to put pressure on Dalhousie University to divest from all investments and relations with Israel. The demands are as follows:

1) Stand in solidarity with the Dalhousie Palestinian Society and student groups to demand that Dalhousie University immediately cut ties with and divest from any corporations, institutions, or individuals complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing in Palestine,

2) Stand in solidarity with the Dalhousie Palestinian Society and student groups to demand that Dalhousie University immediately and publicly condemn the genocidal campaign and siege on Gaza, and provide legitimate support to Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students.

3) Make an immediate and public statement condemning the ongoing genocide and reaffirming its solidarity with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students.

They also compiled a list of some companies that Dalhousie invests in that are complicit in the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians, including Oshkosh, ICL-Israel Chemicals Ltd., Mercury Systems Inc., Boeing Co., Leonardo DRS, AIMCo Realty Investors LP, BCI QuadReal realty and BCIMC Realty Corp, Woodward Inc., Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank.

The motion points out that the university has failed to recognize the oppression and occupation that has been ongoing for decades and is the underlying cause of the current genocidal campaign and all violence in Palestine and continues to invest in and collaborate with corporations, institutions, and donors complicit in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. It gives the example of Dalhousie’s collaboration with Tel Aviv University through an exchange program. Trips are paid for by two members of a pro-Israel lobby and students are expected to return and promote the program and Israel to other students.

This motion passed but no action has been taken by the university. Students can ask and demand, but in the end are taking their own stands and fighting for them. The students are taking responsibility for their future and saying “Who decides? The Students!”

Quebec

Montreal

On May 10, the Coalition du Quebec URGENCE Palestine held an international press conference to demand that Canada hold Israel to account for its genocide in Gaza. Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories took part by video link to discuss the findings of her latest report to the UN Human Rights Committee, Anatomy of a Genocide, in which she stated that "the overwhelming nature and scale of Israel's assault on Gaza and the destructive conditions of life it has inflicted reveal an intent to physically destroy the Palestinians as a group." She said Israel was violating at least three elements of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which the Israeli government has ratified. She said that there are plausible grounds to believe that the threshold [of genocide] has been reached, citing the commission of the following acts against Palestinians in Gaza: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the members of the group conditions of life intended to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

Joel Bedda, from Al-Haq, the Palestinian human rights organization based in Ramallah, provided evidence via video link on the ongoing genocide in Gaza which he described as a second, even deadlier Nakba. He emphasized that despite orders of the International Court of Justice for provisional measures, Israel has persisted on the path to the complete destruction of Gaza, decimating its population and creating conditions in which the Palestinian people are deprived of essential elements for their survival. This genocide is not limited to the Gaza Strip, but also extends to the West Bank, where settler violence is intensifying, he added.

France-Isabelle Langlois from Amnesty International Canada Francophone stressed the importance of respecting international humanitarian law. She said, "As the occupying power, Israel is required to ensure the security of Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, who are protected under the international humanitarian law, and must in particular provide services and food necessary for their survival. Not only does Israel fail to do so, it continues to obstruct the provision of these services to the civilian population of Gaza by UN humanitarian agencies and international aid organizations since 2007."

Diane Lamoureux, speaking on behalf of the Coalition du Quebec URGENCE Palestine, concluded by denouncing "the complicity and procrastination of the Canadian government which not only repeatedly reiterates its support for Israel, but fails to fulfill its obligations under international law and all human decency." She said that the Canadian government must apply sanctions against Israel for its crimes and that Canada's obligations under the Genocide Convention demand, at the very least, an immediate halt to all military supplies to Israel.

Press Conference, May 10, 2024, discusses "Anatomy of a Genocide" report and Canada's obligations under International law

McGill professors, members of Faculty for Palestine (F4P), issued a call to their colleagues across the country on May 12 to boycott the 2024 Congress of Humanities at McGill in response to a request of the student organizers of the McGill encampment. The students have asked that people and associations who considered attending the 2024 Congress show solidarity with them and their demands by boycotting the Congress until the university meets their demands. In their call the professors reiterate the students’ demands that McGill disclose all investments in companies complicit in the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people, end all courses, internships, cooperatives and exchange programs with apartheid Israel and divest from all companies complicit in the Israeli occupation and genocide including weapons and technology companies. These demands follow a historic divestment vote of McGill students with 78 per cent support, which the university has ignored. Actions in solidarity with the students also defend against threats by McGill of disciplinary action and efforts to have the courts grant an injunction against the students to justify police action against the encampment.

The national Faculty for Palestine responded to the call from the McGill professors by cancelling their previously announced meeting for F4P network members attending the Congress in Montreal and urging everyone to boycott the Congress and email McGill administration to express support for the students’ demands. To contact McGill administration: McGill President, Deep Saini mcgill.president@mcgill.ca, McGill Provost, Christopher Manfredi christopher.manfredi@mcgill.ca, and current Deputy Provost, (and as of June 1st) Vice-President (administration and finance),Fabrice Labeau, fabrice.labeau@mcgill.ca.

On May 15, on the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, over a thousand people participated in an action in downtown Montreal reaffirming Palestinians' right to return. Speakers included a representative of Lawyers4Palestine who said, "Over the last eight months, the votes in the United Nations General Assembly have proven to the entire world that Israel is isolated. Israel, in complete defiance of international law, intensifies its attacks on the civilian population of Gaza and mocks the UN General Secretary, with the unconditional support of the United States and the manifest complicity of Canada."

"Imperialist powers claim that Israel has the right to defend itself. We know, however, that the right of self-defence does not apply to an occupying power ... against the nation it is oppressing," said the representative of Lawyers4Palestine. He elaborated that following international law and numerous resolutions from the General Assembly of the United Nations, "it's Palestinians who have the right to struggle for their liberation from colonial domination using all means at their disposal, including armed struggle."

He reminded people that Israel has mocked and trampled UN Resolutions on the right of Palestinians to self-determination, to independence and national sovereignty, to return to their homeland and to their homes from which they were evicted.

Despite these crimes against humanity, the Legault government carries on with its plan to open an office in Tel Aviv to promote commercial relations between Quebec and Israel, including arms trafficking. "If you want to affirm Quebec's autonomy in the international sphere, why not open an office in Havana or Ramallah instead," he asked. He reminded Quebec's Premier that by persisting in this project, he is opening up his government and himself to charges of complicity with genocide.

He reminded everyone that on Nakba Day, McGill University's request for an injunction to dismantle the student encampment made up of "peaceful protesters denouncing genocide" and "McGill's complicity with genocide," was rejected by a Quebec Superior court judge. This was a victory not of lawyers but "of the people who are there putting themselves on the line, showing the courts that they are serious and are going to keep fighting until justice is served," he said.

"We are on the side of justice ... of history. So let's keep on fighting for justice, ... for the liberation of Palestine," he concluded.

After the speeches, people took to the streets, marching through busy downtown Montreal, past restaurants and terraces. For over two hours, they chanted slogans while people cheered them on and took photos.

May 15

At noon on May 16, a hundred students from De Maisonneuve College in Montreal, the vast majority of them young women, held a rally in support of the Palestinian people. Many cars and trucks honked when they saw their Palestinian flag.

One of the speakers said that we must save our brothers and sisters in Palestine, the genocide must stop. "Israel assassin, Canada accomplice," she shouted. She explained that she and her colleagues were greatly inspired by the student encampments at McGill and UQAM and all the others, and decided to organize this first action, which won't be their last. The students chanted: Long Live Palestine! and From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Live, Palestine Will Win!" and marched through the streets of the neighbourhood inviting people to join them.

Students from Cegep de Maisonneuve demonstrate, May 16

At the weekly city-wide demonstration on May 18, participants reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to resist the ongoing massacres committed by the U.S.-Israeli campaign against the people of Rafah and Palestine.

A representative of Concordia and McGill professors in support of Palestine spoke to the growing crowd. "We stand here, with professors from Concordia and McGill in support of its students, of the liberation of Palestine and the end of genocide in Gaza," she said.

She said that their students "have demanded the end of complicity with Zionist colonialism, which by now has killed 40,000 Palestinians and maimed and injured over 100,000 more, and caused starvation and mass destruction of homes and hospitals, the obliteration of all universities, and the displacement of 1.7 million Palestinians.

"We say to McGill and Concordia [that] it is not too late for you to learn," "to sit in an open air classroom next to the encampment and learn from the students who are our moral anchors: Boycott, Disclose and Divest," she said.

A representative from the Palestinian Youth Movement also intervened, saying: "On day 224 of the ongoing genocide, we do not simply gather. We rise up to proclaim that the genocide, this onslaught against the Palestinian people, is not merely a series of atrocities, but a calculated and malevolent war on hope itself. This is a war designed to extinguish the very soul of a nation, to plunge an entire people into the depths of despair."

"Yet the Palestinian resistance remains unbroken and more resilient than ever. They can continue to kill and destroy, but every drop of blood they spill will drown them in their own moral bankruptcy for the world to see," she said. "Through 76 years of occupation, through countless bombings, 17 years of full blockade, through the loss of homes and loved ones, the resolve has only grown stronger....

"This week alone, we have seen that through the relentless work of the students and the over 150 encampments worldwide, an immense amount of pressure has been put on school administrations, government officials and complicit businesses."

The crowd then marched through Montreal's busy downtown core. As it made its way to the McGill University student encampment, cars honked and people took pictures, with some joining in the slogans: End the Siege on Rafah Now!, Disclose, Divest, We will Not Stop, We Will Not Rest! People were invited to visit the encampment and invited back on May 20 for public activities, including a teach-in on 100 years of Palestinian resistance, a calligraphy class and a film screening.

May 18

May 19

Ontario

Toronto

On May 10, leading up to Nakba Day, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival hosted a program with well-known legal scholar, writer and lecturer Dr. Ardi Imseis. Dr. Imseis, himself a descendant of Palestinians forcibly displaced by the Nakba of 1948, is an internationally known legal scholar on Palestine and currently a professor in the Faculty of Law at Queen's University. In 2023 he published "The United Nations and the Question of Palestine," a critical examination of the gulf between international law and UN action on Palestine. He is a member of the legal team that represented Palestine in February before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings into the impact of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine on the Palestinian people.

In his presentation, Dr. Imseis pointed out that the current Israeli genocide against the Palestinians is an extension of the Nakba of 1948 when the Zionist founders of the state of Israel carried out a planned premeditated military campaign of armed terror, ethnic cleansing and expulsion of the Palestinians under "Plan Dalet" or Plan D, militarily occupying Palestine and creating the state of Israel. He underscored that the speeches and statements of the Israeli Prime Minister and others following the Al-Aqsa Flood military operation by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, 2023 show they are clearly aimed at completing the displacement and expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza and the occupied territories.

Dr. Imseis also made it clear that ICJ decisions in favour of Palestine or the UN General Assembly’s May 10 vote to upgrade Palestine’s Observer Status will not in themselves achieve the aims of the Palestinian people to exercise their right of return or other national rights, but will assist them in their struggle for justice. For example, increased rights in the UN will allow Palestine to take advantage of certain rights such as putting forward proposals and amendments directly to the General Assembly without having to go through another state.

He also said that international law is a tool that the Palestinian resistance can use to press its case at the UN, the ICJ, national governments and other rights bodies but that Israel continues to openly flout international law (with support from the U.S., Canada and other western countries), for instance by refusing to recognize the Palestinian right of return. The key factor in the face of the Zionist impunity is the political organizing taking place to support the Palestinian resistance in Canada and across the globe which, he said, has created a "tipping point" for humanity to press forward with its aspirations to create a more just and equitable world.

In the lively question and answer session that followed his presentation, Dr. Imseis stated with confidence that the Palestinian people will achieve their one Palestinian state based on equality and justice for all in due course. He emphasized that the critical matter now is for the peoples of the world to step up support for the Palestinians, who are facing the most barbaric onslaught and crimes of Israel with courage, making the greatest sacrifices to affirm their right to be.

Dr. Imseis speaks, May 10

Some 2,000 people, including scores of members of the Indigenous Community in Toronto held a rally and march on May 18 under the theme From Turtle Island to Palestine, Occupation Is a Crime! to highlight the political unity of the Palestinian people and the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island who are both fighting colonial oppression and genocide. The action was sponsored by Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction, Palestine Youth Movement, Toronto4Palestine and others.

The rally began at the Native Family and Child Services (NFCS) on College Street where Indigenous speakers denounced the ongoing genocide against Indigenous Peoples and in particular highlighted the abduction of Indigenous youth and children by state agencies like NFCS which lead to the destruction of families, communities and contribute to the impoverishment and marginalization of Indigenous Peoples. One speaker pointed out that the Canadian state that has shown no interest in recovering and bringing closure to the families of children who died in the residential schools, similarly has not expressed any shock at the discovery of mass graves of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military. The speakers demanded an end to the genocide against the Palestinians and for reparations for the harm caused as well as justice for the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island.

Following the rally participants marched to Dundas Square.

May 18

Haudenasaune solidarity with Palestine at University of Toronto encampment, May 18

Oshawa

On May 20 an agreement was reached between the Administration of Ontario Tech University in Oshawa and students who had set up an encampment on May 6 to support the Palestinian people. The university administration agreed to "disclose an annual report of all investments and holdings in the public session of the university's Board of Governors' Audit and Finance meeting, to be adopted beginning Fall 2024. The report will be available on the Ontario Tech website." The university also agreed to establish a "responsible investment working group" to review best practices and make recommendations to the Audit and Finance Committee with respect to how the university approaches environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in its investments, "with particular attention to companies involved in arms manufacturing and delivery and/or benefitting from military action in Palestine or elsewhere."

The responsible investment working group will include primarily student representatives and two alumni and will make recommendations to the President. The university committed to divestment "for companies that are determined to be in breach of established policy and process," support for displaced students from Palestine, and protection for those involved in the encampment from academic or employment-related retaliation. A timeline was set out for establishment of the working group and its work.

The Ontario Tech students achieved this agreement by sticking to their principles and demands despite threats of retaliation and even criminalization. By holding their ground, refusing to cower in the face of the threats, and insisting that the university administration meet with them to have serious discussion of their demands they were able to achieve an agreement acceptable to the students.

Sudbury

May 15

May 18

Windsor

Nakba Day was commemorated in Windsor on May 15 with a solemn evening vigil at the riverfront honouring all the martyrs of today and those whose lives were sacrificed over the past 76 years by the Zionist project of illegally occupying Palestinian lands and denying those it displaced the right to return -- blatant, ongoing violations of the very conditions for Israel's creation as a state and memberhip in the United Nations. The vigil was followed by a vigorous march through downtown streets that had not been scheduled, but that participants affirmed through a massive show of hands that they considered a fitting way to end the night's program.

May 15

Four days later, the weekly Sunday march, also commemorating the Nakba, was one of the largest the city has seen since Israel launched its genocidal assault in October. The efforts of activists to mobilize as many people as possible by engaging directly with community members and organizations in different ways, including by distributing and posting up flyers, and calling on everyone to bring others out as well, yielded results. People of all ages, including families with small children, and particularly large numbers of youth made up the crowd that filled the streets, led the chants and contributed to the vigour and militancy of the march.

As the multitude made its way through downtown neighbourhoods in what seemed to be an endless line of people several abreast, undeterred by the rain and threat of an impending thunderstorm that just skirted the area of the march route, the streets resounded with non-stop chants and drum beats. Demands were raised for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the U.S./Israeli genocide, and for Canada to stop supporting it. Slogans supporting the Palestinian people's right to resist, to return, and to liberate themselves from apartheid rule and occupation were also shouted. Many passing motorists honked their horns, waved and gave the V for victory sign, some also waving their own Palestinian flags. People in restaurants or houses and apartments along the route came out to show their support in different ways, some by joining in the chants.

At the rally preceding Sunday’s march, Dr. Maher El-Masri, one of two speakers who spoke about the effects of 76 years of the Nakba on their families and themselves personally, remarked on the diversity of the large crowd in attendance and the importance of this. He expressed appreciation to the community for coming out in force this year to mark the Nakba. He told them that no matter how dire the situation in Gaza, with families suffering great personal losses as Israel continues waging a genocidal war of annihilation -- so far with impunity because a world order controlled by Western powers has allowed it -- they should never underestimate the importance of the work they are doing on behalf of the Palestinian people. As someone born and raised in Gaza, and in regular contact with family and friends still living there, he assured them their words and actions are being heard and seen in Gaza, giving the besieged people there hope as they courageously hold their ground, determined not to be driven off their lands ever again.

At both of the week’s actions calls were given for everyone to visit and actively support the encampment at the University of Windsor which students have vowed to maintain until the University agrees to disclose and divest from whatever investments it has that contribute to and profit from Israel’s genocide in Palestine.

May 19

Thunder Bay

May 15

Alberta

Edmonton

The Canada-Palestine Cultural Association held Palestine Solidarity Day in Churchill Square on May 18, from noon to 7:00 pm. The program included a march, speakers, booths, food, and amazing cultural performances, the events of the day affirming the fight for liberation and the right to be.