Victoria Marches for Palestine, Take Fifty-Nine

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

Our regular emcee being unexpectedly indisposed, today’s iteration was abbreviated, leaving out the speeches at intersections along the march that have come to define it in recent months. But this time felt more like a celebration than a protest, because this week delivered the most awaited news short of a ceasefire in Gaza.

Indeed, the International Criminal Court (ICC) just issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Israel’s campaign in Gaza. The warrant also extends to Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, whom is presumed to have been killed by an Israeli raid.

While neither is likely to actually be arrested, it also means they can hardly travel anywhere, as the vast majority of the 124 signatories to the Rome Statute have pledged to indeed arrest him should either land on their soil, including of course Canada. In fact, so far only the Unites States, Germany, and Hungary have pledged not to arrest Netanyahu.

The news comes about a month after the judge in charge of the case at the ICC was removed, allegedly for health reasons but leaving some speculating that she might instead have been deliberately stalling the process.

Some protesters today, while welcoming this development, have been questioning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s commitment by highlighting the contradiction between his pledge to arrest his Israeli counterpart and his reluctance to implement a robust arms embargo with Israel, which means Canada acknowledges arming a war criminal.

Public reception on the road was even more cheerful than usual, no doubt due to the above. The celebration was marred by a rare few hostile encounters, such as another indigenous person (the second in as many weeks) challenging the marchers’ sincerity by wondering about support for the genocide of his people, seemingly oblivious to the fact many among us (starting with myself) indeed support his cause.

Please note that next weekend’s iteration will be on Sunday, December 1st, at 1PM as usual. Regular schedule on Saturdays shall resume the following week.