On Tuesday, November 21st, a temporary, four-day ceasefire deal was struck between Hamas and Israel in which a hostage exchange will take place and bombardments of Gaza will not occur.
However, both sides of this conflict have also publicly stated their intent to continue fighting following the temporary peace measures.
In Victoria, ever since the initial Hamas attacks which initiated the conflict and the ensuing relentless bombardment of Gaza, peace rallies have been held on the BC legislature grounds every weekend.
Last weekend alone, between 800 to 1000 turned out to offer their compassion to the cause.
According to their organizers, they will continue to rally for peace and for a permanent ceasefire until it is achieved.
Victoria Buzz spoke with a Victorian youth of Palestinian descent who has been instrumental in planning these rallies. Due to threats which have made against them, for the purposes of this article, they will be referred to as David, for the protection of their identity.
“The temporary ceasefire is much needed for the civilians of Gaza but does not guarantee their safety as Israel has been heavily bombing them prior to its effect and vowed to continue after four days have passed,” said David.
David himself has lost family members in Gaza due to the bombing which has now killed more than 13,000 Palestinians.
In the rallies that have been taking place, David told Victoria Buzz that peace is always at the forefront of their minds. To ensure everyone’s safety, VicPD has been providing them service in escorting their marches through downtown and remaining at the rallies to ensure no aggressors resort to violence.
In addition to having a police presence, David says that it is important to everyone in attendance to have the Jewish community in Victoria heavily involved as well as representatives from local First Nations.
“[The loss of civilian lives] is very heartbreaking for both sides, the Muslim, Palestinian and Jewish communities,” David explained.
“We’ve had many people from the Jewish community come out to our rallies — we’ve had teachers, we’ve had elders — and so it’s great we’ve been able to have all these people from the community express their support for Palestine.”
“I’m really grateful for all these Jewish people who have been able to see past the misinformation and the hatred to come out and support us,” he added.
Another rally will be taking place this weekend at the BC legislature, as this will be after the temporary ceasefire has concluded and the group rallying at the legislature ultimately want the local, provincial and federal governments to all call for a permanent ceasefire.
Those who attend call for peace by sharing poetry, giving personal impact statements and participating in collective group chanting.
“When we chant, we choose chants that are peaceful and don’t draw, necessarily, any criticism or hatred — we don’t feed on hatred in any of our chants that we sing,” David told Victoria Buzz.
“It’s all about defunding genocide, supporting funds for health and education and bridging peace and justice.”
“Those are the main things that we ask for when we are chanting,” he continued.
In addition to calling on the government for a permanent ceasefire, David says there are other ways people can help the cause.
One of those ways is by engaging in the boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) movement.
“What we’re trying to do is boycott companies that profit from the current genocide, we’re trying to divest our money from these institutions and we’re trying to sanction enterprises that are supportive of this genocide,” said David.
“A lot of these businesses can be found in Canada.”
“Scotiabank has investments worth $500 million in Elbit Systems, which is an Israeli weapons manufacturer and they supply the Israeli military, and RBC locally has $57 million investment in Palantir [Technologies], which is an Israeli technology company which provides the military with surveillance equipment used in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” he explained.
David also told Victoria Buzz that he hopes people will cease their pushback against Victoria City Councillor Susan Kim for expressing her support for Palestine.
“There have been a group of people that have launched a petition calling on her to resign,” David told Victoria Buzz.
“She’s personally received some threats for supporting Palestine.”
To answer these threats and calls for Kim’s resignation, a Jewish organization, the Independent Jewish Voices Victoria, have garnered over 1,000 signatures in their own petition calling for a permanent ceasefire and for people to support Councillor Kim in her efforts toward peace.
“They wanted to amplify and support Susan Kim,” David said.
David and his cohort have now put together a letter of their own for people to sign as a show of community support to Councillor Kim, while also ensuring she knows what is expected of her as a community leader.
The next rally for permanent peace in Palestine will take place Sunday, November 26th, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and is to be held on the BC legislature’s grounds.
