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Demonstrators took to the streets of Toronto on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, launching a week of protests, vigils and calls for justice in support of Palestine.
One of the protests took place at Queen’s Park and brought in thousands of people, organized by a coalition of organizations including Liberate Palestine 48, Canadians for Palestine and Roads to Liberation.
The war in Gaza started in 1948 and reignited in October 2023 when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250, to which Israel responded with ongoing bombardments of Gaza, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians.
Oct. 7 marks 365 days of an ongoing genocide, according to Nabil, an organizer from Liberate Palestine 48.
“Today is a very memorable day for us, but it also is signifying to our Canadian government that’s complicit in this ongoing genocide, that no matter how long this continues, we will not stop and we will not rest,” said Nabil.
“I want to see our government come out and condemn Israel for the actions that have taken place over the last year and for over the past 76 years as well,” Nabil said.
Canada’s total international assistance funding for the humanitarian crisis in Palestine is $165 million. According to the Government of Canada’s website, it was the first G7 country to aid Gaza after Oct. 7, 2023, and its funding is aimed at providing emergency relief, including food, medical supplies, and shelter for displaced civilians.
Canada has also supplied Israel with $21 million in military exports in 2022 according to the government’s website.
“It’s the same thing that [the government does] for Indigenous communities, and it’s superficial solidarity. I think it needs to go a bit beyond that,” said one of the protesters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of their safety.
The protesters’ goals include an Israeli arms embargo and for the Canadian government to defund and divest from its investments in Israel, according to Nabil and other protesters On The Record News spoke with Monday.
“Oct. 7 was actually a very big deal for our entire movement. It’s a sign that this entity that we’re up against is not unbeatable,” the anonymous protester said.
Also on Monday, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) held a vigil at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) to honour the lives lost over the past year.
“It’s really important for us to acknowledge that this day marks 12 long months of genocide, of ethnic cleansing, of infrastructure being destroyed, of indiscriminate bombing,” said one SJP member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns for their safety.
The vigil at TMU featured a large banner and invited people to come write the names of Palestinians who have been killed during the war.
“We want to honor that these people have names. They have lives. Some were born in war. All they know is war,” said the SJP member. “Their only crime is being Palestinian. They’ve been deprived of water, of the right to live, of peace, of any sort of livelihood.”
In addition to the rally at Queen’s Park, a National Strike for Palestine was called on social media, where organizers urged workers and students across Canada to refrain from going to work and participating in spending as a form of protest.
Throughout the week, a series of events are planned at various Toronto universities, in collaboration with different student groups for Palestine. Keffiyeh Week, running from Oct. 7 to Oct. 11, will see students wearing the traditional Palestinian scarf as a symbol of resistance and solidarity.
Reporter, On The Record, Fall 2024.
Reporter, On The Record, Fall 2024
