Over 100 thousand activists gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 25 to call for a ceasefire in Palestine and to end Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

The Montreal-based chapter of Palestinian Youth Movement, an organization that protests in support of Palestinian human rights, organized protesters to protest in Ottawa. 

Multiple buses were organized by Palestinian Youth Movement to send protesters from Montreal, Windsor, Quebec City and Montreal to Ottawa and back. Nine buses departed from Place du Canada in Montreal at 9:30 am with about 50 people per bus to commute to Ottawa.

Israel has said it is retaliating against Hamas for the October 7 Al Aqsa flood. Between Oct. 7 and Nov. 26, over 6,000 Palestinian children have been killed.

The Health Ministry has been unable to keep a regular count of the casualties following the collapse of Gaza’s health system.

Speakers who addressed the crowd from Montreal included Iraqi rapper Narcy, Palestinian Youth Movement activist with the Montreal chapter Sarah Shamy and Mohawk activist Ellen Gabriel. Other speakers included independent Hamilton Centre member of provincial parliament Sarah Jama, who was removed from the Ontario New Democratic Party caucus; journalist Desmond Cole and Dr. Tarek Loubani, a medic who worked in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital. 

On Nov. 24, Israel granted a four-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange 50 of the 200+ Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and teenagers in Israeli detention – many held without convictions. The ceasefire was extended, but expired on December 1.

Despite the temporary ceasefire, activists said this is not enough, that there must be a permanent ceasefire and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal for two reasons: these settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and they are in breach of international declarations. At least 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, many of which were built either entirely or partially on private Palestinian land.