Victoria Braves the Cold in Support of Palestine

What cold front? There's no such thing as hostile weather for protesters as long as bombs drop on Gaza.

About 350 people rallied at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria for the fourteenth weekend in a row, in spite of subzero temperatures, to demand yet again a ceasefire in Gaza and freedom for Palestine.

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Lots of us wish the Palestinian refugees in Gaza had no worse to contend with.

Indeed the event followed an extreme weather warning by Environment Canada as temperatures dropped to frigid extremes across the country, and Victoria was no exception. While this may have discouraged a significant fraction of last weekend’s attendance from setting outside, most were faithful to the call of the Palestinian community, to listen to speakers enounce a list of calamities the beleaguered people of Gaza still faced, such as hunger, malnutrition, disease, and torrential rains—to say nothing of the IDF’s ordnances.

When he said he’d keep coming, rain or shine, until Palestine is free, he wasn’t joking.

The event also followed escalation in the Middle East, with the very predictable bombing of Yemen in retaliation for the blockade of Israeli ships. US President Joe Biden faces blistering criticism, at home and abroad, for authorising the strikes without congressional approval, in violation of Article 1 of the US constitution, leading a deluge of marchers from across the east coast straight to the White House.

Material support for the operation was provided by a number of allied countries, one of which being, of course, Canada; this fact in particular did not sit well with the crowd, some feeling betrayed after earning some compromise by the Canadian government. This also means a regional conflict isn’t merely speculative anymore, but already in motion, raising the stakes for every protester.

Ever longer poles for signs having farther reach. Soon I’ll need a ladder to take pictures of them.

If you tire of fake news, follow these Instagram accounts instead. Lots of correspondents on the ground broadcast raw accounts of the crisis.

And then this rally followed a heated counterprotest last weekend. VicPD had once again deployed CCTV cameras along the march’s itinerary in anticipation of further trouble. The marshals adjusted their response by strongly discouraging any interaction with the counterprotesters, although only half of last Sunday’s numbers showed up; even I got a warning not to get too close. And of course the organisers urged supporters not to repeat last week’s performance and instead just ignore any hostiles on our path.

Even this was too close for the wardens’ comfort. Mindful of this, I kept the hedge between me and the hostiles to ensure there would be no escalation at this stage.

This Israel supporter stood there the whole rally, virtually ignored by the crowd. Hostiles were to be given the cold shoulder.

This time the factions met without excessive friction. The cordon was more solid than last time, with double the number of police officers and wardens. The marchers walked past twice as fast as previously, the marshals and even protesters enforcing some order by pressing their fellows to move on. The counterdemonstrators also stepped back at a respectful distance, even though their message was anything but.

Lots of cops today. This time they made sure the line would hold.

Once again the marchers took their message to the streets of the city. Sadly the cold snap discouraged people from going out, such that there were fewer bystanders than last weekend, but reception was still positive. I even noticed new faces among our own ranks, indicating broadening interest, such as this older fellow whose view I earlier blocked while he was recording a speaker, because some of us suspected him of being a doxxer, while in fact he only meant to record the speech to spread it on his blog. Well, sorry buddy.