Lots of Hostility at Latest Palestine Solidarity Rally in Victoria

180 activists rallied at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria, for the thirty-ninth weekend in a row, to demand a ceasefire abroad and freedom for the Palestinian people, amid a spur of backlash on the ground requiring multiple police interventions.

Turnout has been rather low at protests in town in the past few weeks. I’ve noticed the student turnout in particular to have sharply dropped, a trend that has been observed elsewhere such as at the Vancouver Island University encampment in Nanaimo. We had once more a representative from the UVic encampment this afternoon trying to build engagement with the regular Saturday rally crowd by inviting everyone to attend activities at the People’s Park, starting with events after every such demonstration.

This call comes amidst a wave of retaliation against solidarity encampments across the country, including a lawsuit by the University of Waterloo, a court injunction against the University of Toronto students, a crackdown at the Victory Square encampment in Montreal, and a riot police intervention at McGill University nearby.

What struck me today, however, was the hostility on the ground, from both factions. Not that the couple regular Zionists stood out in this regard, but bystanders on the other hand frequently heckled the crowd and a couple were outright unhinged.

Some remained rather civil in spite of their hostility, like this angry old man by the fountain at the Legislature who told police officers the speakers’ accounts were “very one-sided.” Or this bearded weirdo on Douglas Street who shouted at me over the chanting that Palestine didn’t exist because Yasser Arafat invented it in 1969 and prior to that there were no Palestinian kings—whatever he meant by that.

The worst today caused a commotion on the Legislature precincts right before the march. A man who reeked of alcohol confronted the demonstrators calling everyone terrorists, antisemitic (right after a ‘fake’ Jew spoke, of course), and somehow antidemocratic. He needed restraining by an officer at some point as he was being escorted to the edge of the property.

And then on Belleville Street on our way back, a hysterical woman on a bike also needed restraining after engaging with protesters, calling them Jew haters. VicPD officers had to pull her to the sidewalk and keep the crowd from retaliating. I was myself threatened by an officer who meant to push me back if I didn’t step back a little bit; I ended up reluctantly complying because I didn’t need to be this close to record.

Crazy Zionists weren’t the only people making regrettable comments, however. For example, one Palestinian woman admitted to me telling before a Zionist’s camera that she supported Hamas, like she supported any faction standing by the rights of her people. I would like to point out that this statement was a best unnecessary and can only fuel allegations that Palestine supporters stand by terrorism, irrespective of one’s opinion on the occupied’s right to retaliate against their oppressor; sometimes the enemy of our enemy isn’t our friend.

And then back on Legislature grounds there was a scuffle among the Palestinians, which I did not clearly witness. I couldn’t pick up much of the ensuing conversations either, most being in Arabic. VicPD officers attempted to get something out of witnesses but everyone interviewed kept mum on the topic. In any case, the sun must have hit everyone pretty hard for hostility to flare this high. It is actually surprising there were no arrests whatsoever today.

On a closing note, the level of brainwash we just witnessed from Zionists is only growing more acute nowadays. On Wednesday, I recorded a Jewish Israel supporter in front of the administrative building at the University of Victoria engaging with Elders For Ancient Trees and encampment students, and while he didn’t raise his voice, his denial was similarly obtuse. Let that be a warning not to engage with hostiles, even when they try to sound reasonable, because there can be non common ground with Zionism.