Montrealers Protest the 74th Year of the Nakba

Montrealers gathered in the streets of downtown to mark the 74th year of the Nakba, meaning the catastrophe in Arabic. This is when Palestinians were violently removed from their lands in 1948 in order to create the state of Israel.

On May 15th, Montrealers gathered to protest against the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine and to pay respects to the most recent Palestinian journalist murdered by Israeli forces, Shireen Abu Aqleh. Abu Aqleh was a beloved journalist reporting for Al Jazeera. She was murdered while wearing a protective vest with the "Press" clearly identified on it. Abu Aqleh was killed by Israeli forces during gun battle in Jenin.

Her death draws attention to hte alck of press freedoms Palestinian journalists face while reporting in Palestine. Just two weeks after Abu Aqleh's death, another female Palestinan journalist, Ghurfran Hamed Warasneh, was killed in Palestine. Warasneh, who worked for a local news network in Hebron, was shot and killed in the West Bank.

Montreal demonstrators demanded justice and freedom for Palestinians and an end to the Israeli occupation on Palestinian land.

Not as many were in attendance this year, compared to last. Last year, thousands were in attendance for the 73rd Nakba, drawing large crowds in reaction to Israel's bombing of Gaza for two week in May 2021. As a result, thousands of Palestinian families were left homeless and thousands were left injured. As a result of the bombings in May 2021, Israel killed 232 Palestinians, including 54 minors and 38 women.

Despite less attendance this month, the pro-Palestinian movement still remains strong in Montreal, remembering both Abu Aqleh and the Nakba.