Al-Quds Day rally took place in Toronto on April 6, 2024. Four day earlier, Toronto4Palestine issued the following statement:
THIS SATURDAY, WE STAND UNITED AGAINST GENOCIDE IN GAZA! 🇵🇸
Historically a day of protest focused on the Zionist occupation of Jerusalem, Al Quds Day this year will take on a broader significance across occupied Palestine and the world, as our movement for liberation continues to agitate, mobilize and escalate in defence of Palestine and against the genocidal Zionist regime.
Every year on the last Friday of Ramadan, millions pour into the streets to proclaim Al Quds (Jerusalem) as the undivided and unceded capital of Palestine. Al Quds Day is a recommitment to the struggle for Palestinian liberation, and an affirmation of the significance of Palestine to Muslims, Arabs, and people of conscience the world over.
We call upon the masses of the world to join us in organizing actions and mobilizing in defence of Al Quds, Gaza and the Palestinian struggle for liberation and return. We’ll see you this Saturday in the streets!
The organizers of Al-Quds Day in Toronto are Al-Quds Committee Toronto, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Toronto4Palestine.
Khaled Barakat was the keynote speaker at Toronto Al-Quds Day rally that began and ended on University Avenue across from the U.S. Consulate, and included a stop at Toronto Police headquarters at College and Bay streets. Barakat is a Canadian national based in Vancouver, BC. In 2017, Arabic media described Barakat as a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Front for the Liberalization of Palestine (PFLP). In 2003, Canada designated the PFLP as a terrorist organization.
Barakat co-founded Masar Badil, the Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement. According to No One Is Illegal, “Khaled Barakat was a founder of the No One Is Illegal network and movement in Vancouver,” “a member of No One Is Illegal,” and “an active leader in social movements in Vancouver and across Canada.” He is also affiliated with Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and joined arms in anti-Israeli protests with activists of Canada Palestine Association and Independent Jewish Voices. In 2019, Barakat was subjected to a political ban and excluded from Germany.
A banner behind Khaled Barakat featured a rifle with a smoking barrel after firing alongside the following caption: “Long live the resistance. Samindoun Toronto.”
Here is Khaled Barakat’s speech at Toronto Al-Quds Day rally:
Hello, As-salamu alaykum (peace be upon you). Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan). We are really proud of you our beloved Community of Toronto. You are truly Toronto for Palestine.
Let me begin by saluting our people in Gaza who have been steadfasting [sic] for the past six months; fighting war crimes and genocide. We [are] here today sending our salute to every worker in Gaza, every nurse, every teacher, every doctor and every fighter who’s carrying his gun in Gaza [crowd cheering].
Today, we want to salute the leader of the Palestinian armed resistance [Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades] Mohammad Deif (محمد الضيف) Abu Khaled (أبو خالد), and we tell him, as Palestinians everywhere are chanting everywhere, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, in Gaza, in the entire Arab world حط السيف قبال السيف إحنا رجال محمد الضيف Put the sword against the sword, we are the men of Mohammad Deif. حط السيف قبال السيف Put the sword against the sword [crowd repeating]. احنا رجال محمد ضيف We are the men of Mohammad Deif [crowd repeating].
Today, we salute the leader of the resistance in Lebanon [Hezbollah] Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah (السيّد حسن نصرالله), and we tell him that today, today, the camp of resistance is united like it never [has] been. I have [sic] personally stood on this stage last year, and I said that we support unconditionally the camp of the resistance in our region led by Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah.
Zionists can say whatever they want. They can spread fears [sic]. they can smear campaigns day after day against us. That will not deter us from declaring our full support of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance [crowd cheering].
Today, we want to send a message to our brave brothers in Yemen who have been coming in millions every Friday declaring their full support of their brothers and sisters in Palestine.
Today, we want to stand in solidarity with our people in Iran, and with Iran, and we are demanding that Iran respond to Israeli crimes in Damascus.
Today, this is the resistance of people across the Arab world, the Muslim world, across the globe. Palestine is liberating everyone. Palestine is liberating our voices, our will. Palestine is liberating humanity.
Today, we want to tell the entire society here in Toronto and Canada that we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Indigenous native people and their struggle in this land.
We stand with the struggles of the workers and the labor unions of this land and of the student movement in Canadian campuses.
Today, our message is that Palestine is not the cause of just the Palestinian people Palestine is because of everyone who’s seeking justice and truth [crowd cheering]. So, if you fight against racism you actually fight for Palestine [crowd cheering]. If you fight for the rights of the workers you are fighting for Palestine [crowd cheering]. If you are fighting for the people in Venezuela and Cuba and Bolivia and Latin America you’re fighting for Palestine [crowd cheering]. If you are standing in solidarity with the Black Liberation Movement [BLM] in the [United] States then you are fighting for Palestine [crowd cheering]. If you stand for Africa to preserve its resources and the people of Africa to be the masters of their wealth you are fighting for Palestine [crowd cheering].
Because Palestine today, Palestine today is not just a cause or a conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. The reason that Palestinians have been fighting for 75 years and until now they are fighting this genocide and war crimes is because our people have been fighting imperialism, and United States in particular, this imperialist power, that is standing behind Israel; funding Israel, providing military, political and all kind of supports for Israel.
But the Palestinian people are determined when October 7th they launched their new revolution. Every 20 years, Palestinians launch an intifada, or an armed revolution. Every 15 to 20 years, Palestinians stand up and say that we will not abandon our land, our rights, we will return to Palestine, and we will liberate every inch in Palestine [crowd cheering] and in the heart of that is the fight for Al-Quds [Jerusalem].
Our message today, if you want to support Palestine you can do that in three small practical steps. One, boycott Israel and all the companies that deals [sic] with Israel. One of those companies are [sic] the infamous Scotia Bank that is investing $500 million in Israeli military industrial company Elbit Systems. So, close your accounts in Scotia Bank if you have an account there, and tell them why you’re doing this [crowd: yes].
It is important that we today start looking for ways to fund raise for our people in Gaza. If you have a friend or a family or a cousin that you can send money to, you should support that person in Gaza, in the face of famine and starvation and genocide [crowd: yes]. They want to impose these laws against our people in Palestine, and to say that funding people in Gaza is a material support for terrorists. They can go to hell. We will fund raise for Gaza. We will fund raise for the health sector in Gaza, and for the education system in Gaza, and we will rebuild Gaza again [crowd cheering].
Brothers and sisters, it is important to have a clear position today on Palestine. Those shaky hands and shaky positions will not liberate Palestine. What liberate Palestine is a clear vision, is a strategy for liberation, is supporting the armed resistance in our region [crowd cheering]. That’s who we are we counting on. We do not count on futile negotiations and this PA, Palestinian Authority collaborators with Israel. They can go to hell [crowd cheering]. So brothers and sisters, it’s a one movement. Palestine is creating this International one movement, and it’s important for Palestinians to feel that they are being supported not with conditions, but supported unconditionally.
And last, I want to say that Canada[‘s] position needs to change, and it will not change without your position, and our position and our role, the role that people and masses are able to create. So, do not vote for those who did not support Palestine in the Parliament [crowd cheering]. I don’t care if they’re Muslim or not; if they did not support Palestine, don’t support them. Vote for those who support Palestine. Vote for Palestine in the next elections. Vote for Palestinian freedom, for justice, for Palestinian liberation, that your vote will count and only then Palestinians will respect that vote. So, practice that right, but don’t vote for half ass politicians [crowd cheering]. From the River to the Sea [crowd: From the River to the Sea]. Palestine will be free [crowd: Palestine will be free]. Thank you very much. God bless you.