Did Protests this Summer Change Montreal's Pro-Palestinian Movement?

Early this summer, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists marched in solidarity with Palestine and to denounce the 11 day bombing of the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel's military.

Local 514 spoke to Denis Kosseim of the Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec about how the movement has changed. We also spoke to Kamel from Canada Sanctions Israel (who goes by a first name basis to protect himself from harassment over pro-Palestinian activism), as well as Aaron Lakoff from Independent Jewish Voices Canada.

This summer, attention towards the pro-Palestinian movement grew in Montreal and internationally. The bombing of the Gaza Strip resulted in 253 Palestinians being killed and more than 1,900 being wounded. 12 Israelis died from rocket fire retaliated by Hamas. Israel was mostly protected by the US-funded iron dome which destroys missiles that approach the country. 

On May 15 of this year, the anniversary of the Nakba, more than 5 thousand Montrealers mobilized on the streets of downtown and outside the Israeli consulate.

Montreal has a history of pro-Palestinian activism, as protestors mobilized against then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Montreal to give a speech at Concordia University in September 2002. As a result of mobilizations against Netanyahu's speech, he did not visit Concordia University. 

Canada has shown support for both sides, as the federal government committed 25 million in humanitarian aid to Palestine, while continuing to provide exports to the Israeli military. Since 2015, Canada has exported $57 million worth of weapons to Israel, including $16 million in bomb component. The worth of these exports have been increasing each year. Some of the exports used for the Israeli Air Force are produced right here in Montreal.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East estimated in 1949 there were 736 thousand Palestinian refugees. As of 2016, 70,500 Palestinians-Canadians lived in Canada, showing the increasing number of Palestinian diaspora.