Victoria Marches for Palestine, Take Fifty-Six

150 Palestine supporters rallied at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria, for the fifty-sixth weekend in a row, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and accountability for Israel’s war crimes.

As you may already know, I’ve been out of commission for three weeks battling a MRSA infection which required three antibiotics plus surgery, so I missed the previous two rallies and had to play catch up today. I’ve been told the turnouts have dipped noticeably in my absence, although it has rebounded today, and that scuffles with Zionists have attracted more of them. That being said, today’s iteration turned out to be routine and the formula would really benefit from an overhaul.

As usual the protesters had plenty more grievances to bring forth, such as Canada listing Samidoun as a terrorist organisation, its recent embrace of the IHRA definition of antisemitism equating it to anti-Zionism, Israel’s ban on UNRWA, and charges of assault for pulling a Palestine supporter’s keffiyeh being dropped (the prosecution claims she’s been asking for it somehow). This is of course only a sample, although one showing the chilling normalisation of persecution against those denouncing Zionism across the world.

The emcee proposed a boycott of BC Liquor Stores for selling Israeli wine, a measure Samidoun has been advocating for since 2022, in line with a strategy of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against the Zionist regime. He pointed out the hypocrisy of BC Liquor pulling Russian vodka from the shelves right after its invasion of Ukraine, yet still supporting Israel after a year of genocide shown live on television.

While turnout may be lower nowadays, morale among regulars is still high. Fiery chants have replaced the grim silent marches of weeks prior, and speeches are more direct in condemnation of callous bystanders who just walk by without a care in the world. That being said, public reaction was excellent this afternoon, some people even being swayed into joining the procession by the crowd. In contrast, I did not witness a single hostile incident along the itinerary this time.

However, there were a dozen Zionist counterprotesters at the Legislature today, including some wannabe preachers shouting rather disturbing things about God’s chosen people’s biblical right of return to an undivided Holy Land. No less than fifteen police officers stood between the factions as the marchers went forth. While there were unsavoury exchanges across the aisle, I have no incident to report.

Please note that starting next Saturday the rallies will be at 1PM, as we roll back the clock to standard time.