Around 500 people attended the Emergency Rally for Sheikh Jarrah held on Saturday May 10, 2021 in front of the Israeli Consulate in Toronto (2 Bloor St E).
Board members of the Palestine House, Sabrina Fuqhaa, Nazih Khataba, Firas Al Najim, Stephen Ellis, activists with Socialist Action, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV Canada), IfNotNow were among the attendees.
The Palestine House sponsored the protest. Here is the Palestine House’s event statement:
We’re calling for an emergency rally in front of the Israeli consulate in Toronto as we watch in horror the ethnic cleansing of our people unfolding in occupied East Jerusalem. Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem are facing imminent expulsion from their homes by illegal Israeli settlers, backed by the Israeli state. The attack on #SheikhJarrah is part and parcel of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine that began with the Nakba in 1948. Words are not enough. Expressions of “deep concern” are not enough. Only sanctions can begin to bring about meaningful change. Join us!
The participants uttered anti-Israel chants including:
[originally in English]
- Brick by brick, wall by wall, Israel will fall
- Free Free Palestine
- From the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea Palestine will be free
- Viva Via Palestina, Viva Viva intifada
[for background information on the intifada click here]
[originally in Arabic]
We will sacrifice our soul and blood for al-Aqsa [Mosque]
- From sea [Jordan River] to sea [Mediterranean Sea] Palestine is Arab
- Israel is a terrorist state
- The people want to bring down Israel
- We will die and Palestine will live
- Israel is a terrorist state
- Cursed is their father and those who brought them
- There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is the messenger of Allah
- There is no god but Allah, the martyr is beloved by Allah