Toronto protest: “From Toronto to Gaza, Globalise the Intifada!”

, , Comments Off on Toronto protest: “From Toronto to Gaza, Globalise the Intifada!”

Nakba Day protest in Toronto 18 May 2019. Photo: JCPA.ORG

On May 18, 2019 a pro-Palestinian demonstration titled “Nakba 71: Cross-Canada Day of Action” took place at Toronto Dundas Square.

Here are excerpts from a statement issued by the organizers:

Join us in Toronto to show solidarity for the Palestinian people. In remembrance of the Nakba, let us gather in a show of strength and solidarity.

The Nakba was a day of catastrophe which marked the beginning of the violent ethnic cleansing and colonization of Palestine in 1948, which rested on the racist belief that Jews alone belong in Palestine.

The Israeli army and government has continued – even until now, 71 years since the Nakba – to steal land, murder and displace Palestinians, occupy Palestinian territory, and implement an apartheid regime.

Come out on the 18th to honour the ENERGY and STRENGTH of the Palestinian people who have never stopped resisting the oppressive Israeli state and its colonial violence.

Join us in our support for the RIGHT of RETURN for Palestinian refugees and for BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENTS, and SANCTIONS of the state of Israel.

“Nakba 71: Cross-Canada Day of Action” was endorsed by:

Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice, Canada Palestine Association, Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Canadians Against Israeli Apartheid Victoria, Justice for Palestinians Calgary, Palestinian Solidarity Network Edmonton, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Canada Peace Congress, Regina Peace Council, Oakville Palestinian Rights Association, Toronto BDS Action, Al Quds Committee Toronto, People for Peace, London, Canadian for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Independent Jewish Voices, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialiste, Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement pour une Paix Juste, United for Palestine-Toronto/GTA, MidIslanders for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, NDP Socialist Caucus, Labor for Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Palestine Solidarity Working Group Sudbury, Canadian Defenders for Human Rights. Saanich Gulf Island Federal NDP-Electoral District Assocation, Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians, Christian Peacemaker Team-Ontario, Solidarity with Palestine-Sudbury, Niagara BDS Coalition, Palestinian and Jewish Unity, BDS Quebec, Guelph: Ontario Public Interest Research Group, Canadian Federation of Students-national, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, Palestinian Solidarity Working Group – Sudbury, Canadians for Palestine, Islamic Society of York Region, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), International Socialists, Hugo Chavez People’s Defence Front, Independent Jewish Voices-Winnipeg, Canadian Palestine Support Network Manitoba, Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Mennonite Central Committee-Manitoba, Mennonite Church Manitoba Working Group on Palestine/Israel and United Church Manitoba-Region 5.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

The organizers handed out a flyer titled “Chants/slogans for May 18 Demo” that reads:

Justice is our demand! No peace on stolen land!

End the aggression, stop the crimes! Israel out of Palestine!

We want justice, you say how? End the siege on Gaza now!

[Alt: End the occupation now! / Divest, divest from Israel now!]

Resistance is justified when people are occupied!

Netanyahu, you can’t hide! We charge you with apartheid! [Alt: Genocide]

Hey Trudeau, you will see, Palestine will be free!

Hey Trudeau, don’t you know? The siege of Gaza’s got to go! [Alt: The occupation’s got to go!]

Fight the power, turn the tide! End Israeli Apartheid!

Free, free Palestine! (x2) Long live Palestine! (x2)

Long live the Intifada (x2) Intifada, intifada! (x2)

Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry! Palestine will never die!

Netanyahu, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?

Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation’s got to go!

Hey hey, ho ho, apartheid has got to go!

Brick by brick, wall by wall, apartheid has to fall!

Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go!

[Alt: Ireland to Palestine, border walls are a crime!]

From Iraq to Palestine, occupation is a crime!

In our millions, in our billions, we are all Palestinians!

Stop the killing, stop the hate! Israel’s an apartheid state!

[Alt: terror state/racist state!]

The occupation? Shut it down! The border walls? Shut them down! The siege of Gaza? Shut it down! The whole damn system? Shut it down!

Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes!

How do you spell justice? B-D-S!

Gaza must have food and water! Israel, Israel stop the slaughter!

1 2 3 4, Occupation no more! 5 6 7 8, Israel is a terror state!

From Toronto to Gaza, Globalise the Intifada!

From the belly of the beast, no justice, no peace!

Viva, viva Palestina!

For confronting the Zionist state consulate:

We know what that building’s for! Occupation and war!

Displacing lives since 48. There’s nothing here to celebrate!

Racists go home!

Other flyers handed out at the demonstration:

WHAT IS BDS?

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.

The BDS movement seeks:

1. An end to Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Palestinian land

2. The dismantling of Israel’s Wall

3. Equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel

4. Respect for the rights of Palestinian refugees

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) calls for a boycott of all Israeli products but we also target our boycotts to focus on a small number of companies and products for maximum impact. We focus on companies that play a clear and direct role in Israel’s crimes and where we think we can have an impact.

facebook.com/torontobds bdscoalition.ca

BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS

END ISRAELI APARTHEID

THE NAKBA was a deliberate and systematic crime of ethnic cleansing, committed by Zionist militias and later the state of Israel, against the indigenous Palestinian people around 1948 to make room for a racially supremacist settler-colony. But it is not just a crime of the past, it is ongoing until today.

ISRAEL’S APARTHEID & OCCUPATION

Setters of the illegal Jews-only colonies terrorize Palestinians by attacking them and destroying their livelihoods, often with the army’s help.

700 Palestinian children each year are arrested and prosecuted in grossly unfair Israeli military courts, damaging their lives. Israel is the only country routinely trying children in military courts.

Palestinian Loss of Land 1947 to Present

[Maps]

BDS TORONTO