Millions worldwide refuse to take 'no' for an answer and keep clamouring for the end of the siege of Gaza. Protesters in Victoria gave it another go as well.
About 500 protesters gathered on the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia precincts demanding our elected representatives pressure Israel into ending the siege of Gaza and its perpetual campaign of apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people.
Just like the violence on the ground, so did the message at this rally escalate since the preceding iteration. Speakers were no longer content to denounce the ongoing genocide and apartheid of the Palestinian but called for action in order to end it. Emphasis was made for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) as the cornerstone of Palestinian advocates’ platform to bring lasting peace to the region. The crowd was urged not merely to ride the zeitgeist from one rally to the next only to go home, but instead to get involved in direct action, if only by harrying their elected representatives, or by combating online disinformation.
Attendees were also encouraged to sign a petition urging the University of Victoria to publicly condemn the genocide of Palestinians. At the time of this writing, it accumulated nearly 1500 signatures in just six days.
Of course the speakers also had to reiterate what the protest wasn’t about, given how acute the winds of disinformation blew against them trying to drown their voices. It really had to be said that this wasn’t about supporting Hamas. That it wasn’t about terrorism. That it wasn’t a war between Muslims and Jews, as two of the latter attested.
Instead, that it was about horrific war crimes being euphemised as a humanitarian crisis, manufactured through denial of essentials down to food, water, and medicine. That it was about a campaign of apartheid and genocide taking roots several decades ago, which recent events have only made more glaring. That it was a matter of equality, the blood of Palestinian being systematically treated as lighter than those of other peoples whenever their fate hangs in the balance. And that, ultimately, it was about drowning the voices blaring disinformation and propaganda rather than answering their preposterous claims.
This time the organisers took their march across downtown Victoria, up Government Street, instead of remaining in the periphery of the Legislature, all the while clamouring for a free Palestine and parading a giant Palestinian flag. It proceeded without incident.
An allegory for this rally could be the very memorial for the victims of Israeli aggression that the organisers set up on the steps of the Legislature. Strong winds blew signs and pictures face down, and volunteers continually had to lift them back up. Likewise, the Palestinian face the strongest headwinds of their existence and supporters must relentlessly lift them back on their feet, lest they die ignored and forgotten.
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Never take your rights for granted. Women in particular know even hard-earned ones are never far from being taken away.
Although the event was a relative success, its outcome leaves me most apprehensive. Regretfully, we had to end it early.
