Close to 50 people gathered in front of the Confederation Building in St. John’s Saturday, holding signs, some which read “No to Annexation” “Free Palestine” and “Canada Must Stop Annexation.”
Several people stood at the front of the group, holding Canadian and Palestinian flags side by side.
Carmel Conway was one of the organizers of the rally. She wants the Canadian government to send a strong message to the Israeli government by condemning the plan to for Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, which is populated primarily by Palestinian Arabs. She says nnexation violates international law and damages the possibility of a two-state solution.
“We do believe in a two-state solution, that’s Canada’s policy,” she said. “(But) where’s the land coming from if the Israeli government is slowly but surely annexing all of it?”
Historian and columnist Gwynne Dyer, in an article from March 13, described a two-state solution as, “Jews and Arabs living peacefully side by side in separate sovereign states.”
Conway says the Canadian government has been vocal about other conflicts, but when it comes to Palestine, it has its “head in the sand.”
Yamen Shahwan was born in Gaza, but moved to Canada 10 years ago. Wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, a black and white chequered scarf, he attended the rally to bring awareness to the issues facing the people in the part of the world where he was born.
“They’re stealing people’s lands, they’re kicking them out of their land, it’s violating international laws,” he said. “Very little media coverage has been happening there. Therefore, we’re here to let the world and people know about the annexation of the West Bank.”
On July 1, the day annexation was scheduled to begin, Reuters reported it might be weeks before any action is taken, as Israeli leaders wait on approval from American officials.
Holding a red bullhorn, Wesam Salam told the crowd the annexation is not simply a matter of land.
“It’s not just like any other day back home,” he said. “It’s not just some land. It’s like taking your home, taking your friends’ home.”
Member of Parliament for St. John’s East, Jack Harris, said he attended to show his support for the effort to stop annexation.
“I’ve called on Canada to do far more than it’s been doing,” he said. “It’s actually been doing little to nothing to actively put pressure on Israel to stop this.”
Another attendee, Kim Bell, said he believes countries like China and Israel are chipping away at human rights. He gave a speech to the crowd about the difficulty of discussing the topic.
“I’ll shock you,” he said. “I’m not in solidarity with Palestinians, I’m in solitary with human rights.”
A moment of applause happened before he continued.
“Canada’s foreign policy should be based in principle, not expediency, We shouldn’t be afraid to criticize Israel,” he said before adding democracy is a matter of dialogue.
“We have a delegated democracy (and) those delegates owe us an obligation of dialogue.”
Some at the rally were supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, which aims to put pressure on Israel through boycotts. That group included Bill Hynd.
“If it’s ending military sales, if it’s deciding that we aren’t going to purchase goods from the West Bank that say, ‘Made in Israel’ when they’re not, these are things that we have to look at,” Hynd said.
Twitter: @AndrewLWaterman
