Victoria Marches for Palestine, Take Forty

190 Palestine supporters rallied at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, for the fortieth weekend in a row, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and freedom for Palestine.

Today’s turnout may still be on the low end for Palestine solidarity rally, even the scorching sun couldn’t dissuade hardcore regulars from attending. Our weather remains clement comparing to that of Palestine though, and I’m not just talking about the heat; according to the latest overseas weather report, it’s still raining bombs on Gaza.

Just since yesterday, more high-profiles massacres occurred in so-called safe zones, the most reported being at the al-Mawasi camp west of Khan Younis, where allegedly 90 civilians were killed. Israel claimed it was targeting Hamas commanders, a statement which should be taken with scepticism; the emcee today even went as far as retorting that “Hamas is hiding under your bed.”

We also got a routine update from the People’s Park encampment at the University of Victoria. Of course everyone wonders, after the flurry of developments at other university encampment across the country, whether it will go the way of the University of Windsor or that of McGill University instead. I’m sitting on insider knowledge I’ve been requested not to publish ahead of time, suggesting we should actually look forward to a peaceful conclusion; wait for an announcement next week by the People’s Park.

Otherwise it was a boring routine rally, without any noteworthy hostile incident nor police intervention, in sharp contrast with the blockade at the Victoria Pride Parade last Sunday and the previous Saturday rally. Of course it meant a more enjoyable parade for the rest of us who aren’t attending for the sport. Still, the attendance had to be scolded at the end of the march for engaging with the lone Zionist counterprotester tagging alongside the procession while recording every tidbit of exchange between the factions.