On May 16, hundreds of protestors gathered in front of the Consulate General of Israel in Montreal to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the Nakba (Nakba Day). Demonstrators waved Palestinian, Rotisken’rakéhte (Mohawk Warrior Society), and post-1979 revolution Iranian flags amidst the music of live drummers.
Nakba, which translates to ‘catastrophe’ in Arabic, describes the Israeli army’s mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians following the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. During the Nakba, Zionist militias and Israeli forces expelled over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland, or approximately 75 per cent of the Palestinian population, and destroyed approximately 400 Palestinian towns and villages in an explicit effort to prevent Palestinians’ future return. Attacks such as the Deir Yassin Massacre, during which Israeli paramilitaries killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians, accelerated this expulsion.
The Nakba resulted in a refugee crisis that still exists today; Palestinians displaced by the Nakba and their descendants number over seven million people, many of whom currently live in stateless limbo in temporary camps administered under Israeli military rule.
Ali Salman, an affiliate with Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance Concordia, opened the commemorative event by recalling this history, and asserting the continued importance of advocating for the Palestinian people’s right of return.
“The grandparents, who to this day, still hold the keys to the houses that they left 78 years ago, are a reminder that 78 years of occupation breeds 78 years of resistance and liberation,” he said. “The hearts of those who had to witness [the Nakba] were broken, but their spirit of return has and never will be.”
Counter-protestors stood opposite the demonstration on av. Wood, waving flags representing Israel, the United States, Quebec, and pre-1979 revolution Iran. The opposition held signs declaring, “Pas de Charia dans nos rues”* (“No Sharia on our streets”).
After Salman’s speech, Indigenous human rights activist Ellen Gabriel, a Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) woman from the Kanehsatà:ke First Nation, began addressing the crowd in her native tongue, explaining that doing so is a symbolic act of resistance given Canada’s historical residential school system, under which Indigenous Peoples were systematically denied acts of linguistic or cultural expression.
“Children [in residential schools] were punished, needles put in their tongues, so they would not speak their language,” Gabriel said. “Today, speaking my language is an act of resistance against a colonizer.”
Gabriel then drew connections between the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Israel’s genocide in Gaza, emphasizing that they both occurred under the same colonial power: Great Britain.
“All settler-colonial states are founded on racist doctrines like the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, a land without a people,” she said. “But we are a people, and this is our land, just as Palestine belongs to the Palestinians.”
At the end of Gabriel’s speech, demonstrators chanted, “Land back for all Indigenous people, from Turtle Island to Palestine.”
Following Gabriel, Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) Canada spokesperson Colombe Dimet described the GSF’s most recent flotilla mission, which set sail toward Gaza on May 14, carrying aid and over 400 activists. While in international waters, the Israel Defense Forces raided and intercepted the GSF’s vessels on May 18. Among the activists detained were 12 Canadians, including McGill University IT and Technical Services manager Ehab Lotayef.
Dimet emphasized that Israel’s disregard for international maritime law reflects its broader commitment to maintaining its settler-colonialism in Gaza.
“The Mediterranean [Sea], a space of international solidarity, has become a militarized zone controlled by Israeli forces and their allies where civilians from around the world can be attacked or kidnapped while attempting to open a humanitarian corridor by sea,” Dimet stated. “With every attack, [Israel] shows it is ready to go to any lengths to maintain the siege imposed on the Palestinian people.”*
The event’s next speaker, Secretary General of the Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain (CCMM-CSN) Chantal Ide, described the importance of global class solidarity in advocacy efforts for Palestinian liberation. She stated that global capitalists are complicit in Israel’s genocide, with their fortune deriving from investments in or the production of weapons technology.
Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal representative Rama Al Malah then spoke, asserting that despite Israel’s continued attempts to suppress Palestinian uprisings throughout history, the future bears promise.
“The future does not belong to empire. The future belongs to our prisoners, who have taught us that even when you have nothing, you fight with your stomachs and your bodies,” Al Malah stated. “The future belongs to the children in the West Bank, who face tanks with nothing but rocks [….] The future belongs to the Arab and Palestinian people who have reclaimed their struggle from the far diaspora. And the future belongs to all of you […] who have committed yourselves to […] the Palestinian struggle for national liberation.”
After the speeches concluded, protesters began marching down rue Sainte-Catherine, chanting, “Nous sommes tous des enfants de Gaza.” They then turned left on rue Chomedey, where residents cheered from their balconies and waved flags. The protest next turned right onto boulevard De Maisonneuve, where chalk artists sketched visual representations of the protest’s chants.
At around 4:00 p.m., the protest paused briefly on rue Saint-Mathieu, where Salman delivered a second speech reminding marchers and passersby of the purpose of the Nakba Day protest.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that the sacrifice of these martyrs is not forgotten, and that Zionism’s global image never recovers,” he said. “Netanyahu has said himself in a recent interview that [Israel is] now fighting on multiple fronts. Well, we are one of those fronts.”
Marchers replied by chanting, “Say it loud and say it more, not a conflict, not a war,” and, “Mark Carney, pick a side. Justice or genocide?” The group continued down boulevard De Maisonneuve until they reached rue Peel. They then turned left on rue Sainte-Catherine, with the protest concluded at Square Phillips. Salman offered closing remarks, expressing his hope that this year will be the last Nakba anniversary with Palestine still under Israeli occupation.
“We hope that the next time we take the streets for this occasion, for Nakba 79, it will be because Palestine is liberated,” he said.
*These quotes were translated from French.