Victoria Rallies for Palestine Ahead of Ceasefire Vote

Today's protest would have been boring routine but for the wave of events it was riding on, including a vote in Parliament on an NDP motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

About 360 Palestine supporters rallied at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria for the twenty-third weekend in a row, in anticipation of a Parliament vote on an NDP motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

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Good turnout for the twenty-third edition of a rally. The weather helped.

Lots of cops as usual, but very little action, for better or worse.

Time for the march, after only two speeches. What else is there to say?

Twenty-three weeks on, morale is still high.

Indeed, the House of Commons is set to vote on an opposition motion brought forward by the NDP, which acknowledges the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the genocide perpetrated by Israel, and calls for the implementation of the protesters’ demands, starting with a ceasefire in Gaza, resumption of UNRWA’s funding, banning Israeli settlers from entering the country, and lifting the one-thousand cap on Palestinian refugees.

In the meantime, the US Congress is planning to ban TikTok so you don’t see all that graphic footage from Gaza.

This last proposal was seconded today by a speaker representing a coalition of organisations such as the Migrant Rights Network, which denounced the double standard between this country’s treatment of Ukrainians and Palestinians, over two hundred thousands of the former having been admitted in contrast. A rally tomorrow at the Legislature, as part of the Migrant Spring national campaign, will call for a fairer immigration policy indeed.

Today’s protest was held in conjunction with a Gaza ceasefire pilgrimage (which I did not attend for being busy as hell), itself part of an international campaign of such rallies. The procession would start at the Broad View United church and walk 21.5 kilometres around the city all day.

Zionists did not show up at the Legislature this afternoon. If you miss them, show up tomorrow at 3PM for a counterprotest, organised by the Tzedek Collective, thirty minutes ahead of a rally in support of Israel.

We did get some hostility today. A man we met on both Government and Douglas screamed “Let Israel live!” and “I do not recognise Palestine!” at the march, only to be told to “Go back to Germany!” by an angry Palestine supporter. He would end up throwing his lunch in my direction—only to be swarmed by cops, haha—as I walked away from him.

As for the Parliament motion on Monday, it remains to be seen whether it will pass. While the NDP has nowhere near the numbers to, the party has formed an uneasy coalition with the Liberals keeping it in power, and failure to support such a pivotal agenda might break up the alliance. If the motion is voted down, expect another twenty-three weeks of relentless harassment by an increasingly vindictive movement toward a wavering and politically unstable minority government.