The streets of Toronto were filled with the slogans of ‘Shame Shame Israel”, “Zionism is racism”, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “Long live Palestine” and “Judaism, Yes, Zionism, No”. The over 3,000 attendees of the historic and largest Al-Quds rally ever held in North America and Western Europe included Rabbis from Neturei Karta (http://www.nkusa.org/) and attendee and speakers from Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Anti-war groups who refuse to accept that Judaism is the same as Zionism and that criticism of Israel is the same as Anti-Semitism.
The rally was a huge success in terms of the turnout, the diversity of the speakers and participants, and the organized, legal and peaceful manner in which it was conducted. The speakers denounced efforts by the organizations, representing the Zionist settlers in Canada, to silence the voice of the oppressed. They commended the speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly, Mr. Dave Levac for showing character and standing up for the rights of Canadians to express their views freely. The speakers also appreciated the Ontario Legislative Assembly security officers and the Toronto Police Force for protecting the rights of Canadians guaranteed by the constitution.
The speakers also thanked, United Church, the largest Protestant Church in Canada for adopting a resolution to boycott Israel. The adoption of the resolution shows that despite years of propaganda by the right wing media, more and more Canadians continue to denounce the barbaric policies of the State of Israel. Finally, multiple speakers thanked the Islamophobic right wing organizations and media that provided tremendous publicity to the Al-Quds rally, making wild and inaccurate accusations that the rally calls for ‘genocide of Jews’ and should not be allowed. The large number of Jewish participants and speakers in the Al-Quds rally proved the frivolity of their claims and the publicity provided by them resulted in the largest rally for Al-Quds ever held in the western world.
The organizers of the rally asked all the attendees to express their views in a peaceful and legal manner and cooperate with the law enforcement completely. The Jewish Defence League (JDL), declared by FBI as a right wing terrorist group organized a counter protest which raised very hateful slogans against the attendees and even against Canada. They continuously tried to provoke and disrupt the peaceful rally.The Zionists even confronted young children, telling 5 year olds that they are brainwashed by the parents, cursing and abusing a 12 year old calling him a terrorist and asking him to go back home, swearing at women and children, carrying signs against Canada and constantly confronting the Police officers. The disrespect shown by the Zionist to the law enforcement and to Canada was shocking. The organizers have captured a number of these incidents on video and will share them with the law enforcement and will consider legal proceedings under hate crime and defamation laws.
The difference between the two sides could not have been starker and reflected the positions they were representing. The Palestinian position was represented by a broad spectrum of attendees and speakers, expressing their views in a legal and peaceful manner. The Zionist side was represented by people with hateful signs and slogans, insulting Canada, swearing at police officers, constantly engaging in hate speech. These extremists did not have a permit to hold a protest and had no respect for the law enforcement trying to maintain order. They were employing the same tactics as their Israeli settler brethren who spit on Christian nuns and priests and engage in oppression of the Muslims in Palestine.
The frustration of the Zionist stems from their utter failure around the world to silence the critics of Israel through hateful Islamophoic propagands and through 'divide and conquer'. Their slogan of “Israel, a land with no people for a people with no land’ has one major flaw; there were and are millions of Christian and Muslim Palestinians living in Palestine and they refuse to surrender and disappear, despite 60 years of brutal atrocities. The racism of the state of Israel was expressed once against this summer by the Deputy Prime Minister, Eli Yishai, who speaking against the African migrants in Israel, stated that ‘Israel belongs to us, the white men’. The day is not far when Palestine will become a true democratic state where Jews, Mulsims and Christians will be able to live in peace again.
Al-Quds day rallies were held around the world including over 25 cities in USA and Europe and in Toronto, Montreal, Regina, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa in Canada. The increasing numbers of participants and their diversity in Al-Quds events around the world and in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is proof that the world has had enough with the barbaric and inhumane policies of the state of Israel and is uniting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Long live Palestine!
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment