Health Care Workers Hold Vigil for Colleagues Martyred in Gaza

About 80 mourners, primarily health care workers and Palestinians, gathered in support of fellows being martyred on the line of duty in Gaza since October, holding a vigil at the office of the BC Ministry of Health in Victoria.

The vigil used to be held at the Royal Jubilee Hospital for the first three weeks. I speculated the organisers had moved in order to avoid VicPD, which every time dispatched several officers to keep a close eye on the event (since protesting at a hospital can be criminal). I asked around, however, and while they are relieved to be rid of the police, it was not a factor in the decision.

Since last I attended, already unbearable pressure on the last remaining hospital in operation in Gaza intensified. Reports of snipers targeting physicians and patients at Al-Nasser Hospital have generated outrage worldwide, at least from those still capable of shock after months of graphic atrocities flooded pictures through every medium. The hospital has recently been undergoing evacuation to nowhere ahead of an IDF raid which has killed even more patients.

As usual, organisers took turns to enumerate the names of health care workers killed by Israel’s military since October, a list including medical students, pharmacists, microbiologists, and so on. Their number now exceeds four hundreds.

The event comes a day after the prime ministers of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand jointly called, with little fanfare, for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, with mention of the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice. This call comes far too late for those who have become statistics in this ongoing genocide, those named tonight forming a tiny sample of the nearly thirty thousands casualties on record, more of which no doubt lie in wait under the rubble.

In closing, an activist has announced starting a hunger strike tonight, ahead of the upcoming provincial legislative session. She shall be protesting at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia until her demands are met. Supporters are invited to meet with her on the Legislature’s precincts.