Victoria Marches Once Again for a Free Palestine

Around 350 Palestine supporters rallied at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria, for the eighteenth weekend in a row, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israel from occupied territories.

This week’s theme was the environment. It may look like a strange leap at first glance, but notable environmental advocates such as Howard Breen and Mike Graeme have been staunch supporters of the cause since October.

The speakers emphasised the devastation the land is subjected to by relentless bombardment. Purposeful targeting of the farmland and water supply is rendering the region uninhabitable, to ensure those displaced never return. The environmental impact is to be felt far beyond Gaza, for many years to come, as the industry of war is a massive polluter. While Selina Robinson may have been bigoted in claiming Gaza is a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it,” Israel is hell bent into making the figure a reality; even if military ordnance don’t kill down to the very last Gazan, a lethal conjuncture of famine, disease, and poisoning will strike the final blow.

Hostiles were bolder than usual today. One in particular dumbfoundingly walked across the stage with a camera and took closeups of protesters, while the attendance stood there too puzzled to react, and for a while he seemed like an amateur photographer lacking in protest etiquette, but he turned out to be a doxxer in league with the counterprotesters waiting for us at the corner. Sometimes it’s so crazy that it works.

Speaking of counterprotesters, the organisers sought to avoid a repeat of last week’s performance. Before the march, they first exhorted the crowd not to engage with them, especially by getting close enough to screen them and block their cameras. Then they led the procession toward Government Street’s exit and kept to the right lane, in order to increase the distance between the factions, thus catching the hostiles out of position. Still the protesters could hardly help themselves, if only by flaunting a giant banner by Independent Jewish Voices calling for the end of the occupation, embarrassing a Jewish heckler adamant that the conflict pitted Jews against Arabs.

Starting next weekend, the rallies will be held on Saturdays instead of Sundays, the next one being February 17th at 1PM. Holding the events on Shabbat may be inconvenient for our Jewish allies, but it may keep their counterparts home as well.