Photo Review

International Days of Action Commemorate 77 Years of Nakba

Actions took place around the world on May 17 commemorating 77 years of the ongoing Nakba -- the Catastrophe -- that started with the mass dispossession and displacement of the Palestinian people in 1948 by the Zionists with the backing of the Anglo-American imperialists. The mass actions affirmed once again that the people of the world stand with Palestine. More than 500,000 marched in London, England, while tens of thousands took to the streets in Amsterdam and The Hague, Netherlands, with large actions in Dublin, Ireland, Stockholm, Sweden, Milan, Italy, Hamburg and Berlin, Germany, Geneva, Switzerland, Athens, Greece and other European cities, in Latin America and in countries around the world. In Canada there were marches and rallies in Saint John, Sherbrooke, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Sudbury, Sarnia, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Squamish, Victoria and Nanaimo. At least fifteen cities in the U.S. held actions. Reports and photos from some of these actions are below.

Montreal

On Saturday, May 17, close to 800 people gathered in front of the Israeli consulate in Montreal. The atmosphere was somber as people exchanged news from Gaza. People carried placards denouncing the ongoing bombing of Palestinians in Gaza by the Zionist military forces with the full complicity of the U.S. and other members of the Genocide 7 including Canada.

The demands for an end to the funding of the U.S./Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza and the West Bank and a full embargo on arms going to Israel were front and centre in the signs and banners held by organizations including those representing the Jewish community, post-secondary academics, doctors and health care and educational workers.

As rain started to fall, a representative of the Palestinian Youth Movement spoke:

"We are here despite the rain, because our people in Gaza, far away, are facing bombs raining down on them every single day. Our people in Gaza have fought against the genocide of Israel for almost 18 months and for 77 years.

"And we are here today to commemorate the rise of the Palestinian people to return home 77 years after the Nakba. Brothers and sisters, we are witnessing the televised massacre of our people every single day in Gaza.

"This genocide is only possible by the funding and arms supplied by the criminal U.S. government. We know that the U.S. is a partner in this genocide. They supply the fighter jets to rain the bombs down on Gaza. And while Trump is in the Middle East, making multi-billion dollar deals in the Gulf states, massacres are being committed in Gaza.

"Let us be very clear. The imperialist forces and the fascist Zionist occupation want to ethically cleanse our people. They want to erase the Palestinian people because this is what Zionism represents. This is the true face of Zionism. Just like they ethnically cleansed us in 1948, the only way for Zionism to survive is to erase the Palestinian people. [...] The last 18 months have shown, and made it clear to the entire world, that Zionism is a fascist and racist ideology. But we know that wherever there's an occupation, wherever there's massacres, there will be resistance.

"The Palestinian people have struggled for more than 77 years, and they will continue to struggle for many more years, until Zionism is defeated. Palestinians have given rise to revolutionaries, not just in Palestine, but everywhere in the world. They have given birth to revolutionaries in the prisons, in the Zionist dungeons, have birthed revolutionaries under siege, have birthed revolutionaries in the cramped refugee camps, and have birthed revolutionaries right here in the diaspora."

She concluded with these words: "The Palestinian people have resisted since 1948, and even before that, for a hundred years, they have resisted, because it is the only choice they have. So too, we say, "resistance is justified when people are occupied!"

An Indigenous representative from the Kanesatake Mohawk community also spoke. She said:

"Your ancestors are crying whenever we get together and there's rain." She spoke of the genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and the teachings to be good and respectful to one another, that every life is precious and said "From the pine trees of the Haudenosaunee, the great white pine, which is a symbol of peace for our people, to the sacred olive groves of Palestine, we stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine." Speaking of the attacks of the state in 1990 on Kanesatake she said that "I am proud today to say that Turtle Island is a refuge for all those who are escaping the violence of the ideology of those who think they are superior to everybody else in this world, who think they are the chosen people and think they can kill anybody with impunity."

She linked the resistance of the Indigenous Peoples and of the Palestinian people against the colonizers who consider themselves superior, the chosen people, then call those who resist criminals while they are the ones who are murdering the people, starving babies. She said "Just as we mourn the little children in the unmarked graves, right across Canada and the United States, we mourn the loss of those children who are stuck under the rubble in Gaza." In spite of efforts of U.S. and Canadian authorities to wipe out the Indigenous Peoples she said "We are here. We are standing. And we survive, and Palestine will survive. And Palestinians have the right to return, just as Indigenous people of Turtle Island have a right to return to their traditional homeland.... These criminals should be stopped and their names remembered as part of history. You, as a youth, will write your history and never forget the crimes, the murders committed against the people."

The last to speak was a young woman doctor who had spent the last few months in a Gaza hospital as a volunteer caring for the wounded. She described the dedication of medical staff who refused to abandon patients despite dangerous conditions, and detailed severe food shortages affecting the population. She also raised concerns about a proposed Humanitarian Foundation for Gaza set up by the U.S. and Israel that would implement biometric surveillance and restrict the distribution of aid. She denounced the involvement of U.S. mercenaries working with the Israeli military to distribute aid. She added that "It will force the people of Gaza to go to Rafah every two weeks to pick up a small parcel with a limited amount of calories, just enough to keep them alive for a few weeks. It is done for the purpose of denying them dignity. We know how difficult it is to travel from the north to the south of Gaza to be able to get anything." She ended by giving a call that every MP in Parliament should demand accountability from all levels of government in power in Canada and defend the international rule of law.

From the consulate people marched through downtown, greeted by people on the streets and at the windows of buildings expressing support, showing Palestinian flags, to Phillips Square where the call was given for everyone to be ready to demonstrate again.

Ottawa

People of conscience in the Ottawa and Outaouais region demonstrated on May 17. The event started at the Human Rights Monument where an organizer pointed out that the Nakba is the most unrecognized genocide in history. "What went unpunished in 1948 never stopped," he said, adding: "Genocidal regimes do not self-correct. They must be confronted and disarmed. Silence sustains slaughter. Impunity fuels expansion. We need to stop the genocide and hold the perpetrators accountable. Never again means never again for all people."

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) spoke of the Nakba as it continues today with Israel's ongoing genocide, mass murders, mass starvation, destruction and pillaging of the Palestinian homeland and ongoing colonial expansion, including attacks on Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. She reminded everyone that this day also marked 77 days of Israel's blockade of basic needs, with no food or humanitarian aid entering Gaza. She also announced that police have dropped charges against five people, including an organizer for the Palestinian Youth Movement, who had been arrested last November. The five, as bail conditions, had been banned from communicating with each other and from attending, organizing or participating in protests related to "the conflict in the Middle East."

A spokesperson for Labour4Palestine called on everyone to oppose all attempts to suppress Palestinian voices. He explained that on May 15 he had participated in a City of Ottawa Emergency and Protective Services meeting to oppose the City of Ottawa's projected "Bubble By-law." The aim of the "Vulnerable Social Infrastructure By-law" is said to be to restrict protests outside "vulnerable places" such as schools, places of worship and hospitals, as well as to address "increasing hate crimes and people feeling unsafe in their communities." But the overall arrests, harassment, and false accusations against those speaking out against the genocide and demanding an arms embargo who are accused of "antisemitism," including students who have participated in University encampments, leave little doubt as to who is being targeted.

People marched through the streets of downtown Ottawa, committed to remaining steadfast in the fight for Palestinian liberation and to put an end, once and for all, to the Nakba.

Toronto

More than five thousand people participated in a militant rally and march demanding that the Carney government impose an immediate arms embargo against Israel and cut off all ties with the Zionist state.

The action began at Dundas Square in the heart of downtown with speakers from the Palestinian Youth Movement welcoming everyone and the chanting of slogans in English and Arabic that filled the air with the spirit of resistance. Everyone then moved onto Yonge street for a slow march north to the Israeli Consulate on Bloor Street. Slogans such as Arms Embargo Now!, This is Genocide! We are the Resistance! Long Live the Resistance! and From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free! and many others rang out throughout the march and in front of the consulate.

All along the way people expressed their support and many joined the march. One of the main speakers at the Israeli consulate pointed out that the steadfastness of Canadians and other people from the Middle East and around the world who have stood by the Palestinian people and their Resistance is what prompts us to shout We are All Palestinians! and it is this unity that is the guarantee that the Palestinian people will be victorious and will return to their homes and lands.

The march then proceeded along Bloor, then south on Bay Street to City Hall where organizers called on everyone to continue to speak out, to inform their neighbours and friends, to defy the Canadian state and its ongoing efforts to criminalize those who stand with the Palestinian resistance, and to be steadfast till Palestine is free.