[Nettime-bold] Protestesting the Israeli offensive against Palestine _ Toronto,CA

[Gita Hashemi <gita@yorku.ca>]

Short report from Toronto, Canada:

On Saturday, March 30/02, several thousand people took to the streets 
of Toronto, on the occasion of the Land Day, to protest the seige of 
Palestine.  This event was called by a number of Palestinian and 
Jewish organizations, supported by peace, anti-globalization and 
social justice organizations in the city, and joined by many 
organizations, individual activists and Arab community members from 
nearby cities.

The protest started at 10 a.m. with the ritual of draping and 
decorating mock coffins in commemoration of the civilian victims of 
the war on both sides.  By 1:30 p.m. the protesters gathered in front 
of the provincial legislature building began a procession toward the 
Israeli embassy, carrying the coffins.  Near the Israeli embassy, the 
coffins were placed on the ground, covering the length of the street 
for 4 blocks.  The people then continued their march toward the U.S. 
embassy passing through Bloor and Yonge streets, successfully 
interrupting heavy Saturday shopping and traffic in the city's core.

Although the city and provincial police had a heavy presence, and the 
emotions ran high because of the recent news from Palestine, the 
protest ended without widespread confrontation.  There were only 1-3 
persons arrested.  I witnessed the arrest of a medical doctor, 
Padawi, from Hamilton who approached the Israeli embassy carrying a 
Palestinian flag.  I don't know yet what the official charges against 
him are (if any).  The police did not respond to my demand to know 
why he was arrested.  But Dr. Padawi, before he was transferred to 
one of the all too present paddy wagons, said they had told him he 
was "too excited."  Unfortunately, there ware no legal observers 
around at the time, but the arrest was captured by many cameras 
including those of a couple of tv stations.  Hopefully, he won't fall 
through the cracks like many other Arabs and Muslims have since last 
September.

Work for peace.


-- 
======

We must organize against the seige of Palestinian people by the 
Israeli army. Our silence implicates us in the genocide.

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