Hibapress / Radio-Canada
It will soon be a year since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people. In response to the 40,000 deaths in the Gaza Strip and the 2,000 other deaths in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, numerous pro-Palestinian demonstrations were organized on Saturday around the world to demand a cease-fire in the Middle East.
New York, Paris, Berlin, London or Rome: several thousand demonstrators gathered to demand an end to the fighting led by the Jewish state in Palestine and Lebanon. Palestinian flags, symbols of support for Gazans, flew above the crowds gathered in the various metropolises.
Lebanese flags flew among Palestinian flags, in a show of support for Palestine in Toronto on Saturday, October 5, 2024.
In Canada, rallies took place in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary in the afternoon.
The demonstrators chanted several slogans, such as Stop the genocide (End the genocide), although this term is not unanimous among the international community to describe the situation of Gazans. For example, the International Court of Justice does not use this word to describe the current crisis.
The demonstrations across the globe went well overall, apart from excesses in Rome, where the police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. Several thousand people demonstrated peacefully until a small group attempted to push the gathering towards the center of the city, despite a ban from local authorities, who had refused to allow access, citing reasons security.
