A unified large demonstration: Together for Gaza and Palestine
Massive demonstration for Gaza and Palestine
Saturday March 23, 2024 at at 2 pm in Dorchester Square
Saturday March 23, 2024 at at 2 pm in Dorchester Square there will be a unified large demonstration gathering most groups and organizations involved with support for Palestine and most in Quebec who oppose the Israeli ongoing genocide in Gaza. Currently 34 groups including PAJU have signed the declaration of principles. More will be added every day. We hope this will be a massive demonstration similar to those against the war in Iraq. Be there!
Below is the English translation of the declaration signed by more than 117 groups, organizations and unions:
TOGETHER FOR GAZA AND PALESTINE!
TOGETHER FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE!
Over the past five months, like many Quebecers, we have been sickened by the horrors Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian population of Gaza: incessant bombardments; 31,342 people killed, 7,000 missing under the rubble, 70,043 injured (as of February 26, 2024); civilian infrastructure devastated; ambulances, health workers and journalists targeted; more than 8 but has recently restore its financing5% of the population displaced; the entire population plunged into acute food insecurity and in many cases starvation, and deprived of drinking water, medicine and fuel by the blockade.
In the first three months of the assault alone, 10,000 children were killed in Gaza, 20 times more than in Ukraine in 18 months (500). According to UN experts, “it is unprecedented to make an entire civilian population go hungry this completely and quickly.”
On January 26, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that it is plausible that Israel is committing acts of genocide in Gaza. The ICJ ordered Israel to prevent such acts and to “enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.” But since then, the situation has worsened, and Israel is now preparing to lay siege to the city of Rafah, at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, and to expel 1.5 million people who have ultimately sought refuge there.
Canada’s position is shameful
In response to these crimes, Canada has expressed “concern” for the fate of the civilian population but continues to invoke Israel’s “right to defend itself” and refuses to condemn its countless violations of international law. Since October 2023, it has approved record levels of military exports to Israel. The day after the ICJ decision, Canada announced that it was suspending its funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), on which two million people depend for their survival but recently restored its financing. Instead of demanding that Israel let the already existing aid entre by the land route from Egypt, Canada announced it participation in a maritime corridor which is considered to be inadequate by the United Nations. By its actions, Canada is complicit in Israel’s criminal assault on Gaza. Canada’s deeds speak volumes about the hypocrisy of its rhetoric.
For life, justice and peace
We call on Quebecers to support the Palestinian people’s right to life by demanding:
an immediate ceasefire and the free flow of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza
an end to direct and indirect Canadian military exports to Israel
the lifting of Israel’s blockade of Gaza
We also call on Quebecers to demand an end to Israel’s decades-long military occupation and colonization of Palestine, which is at the root of the current crisis. For 30 years, phoney “peace processes” have led only to more dispossession, violence and humiliation for the Palestinian people. A just and lasting solution is needed now. Quebec civil society can contribute to it by joining the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
IT IS NOT ANTI-SEMITIC TO UPHOLD THE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!
