Protesters gathered in downtown Montreal on Saturday, April 13 to protest the continued violence occurring in Gaza. 

Since early October, Montrealers have gathered every weekend to protest what’s happening in Gaza – specifically calling for an end to Israel’s bombardment on Gaza, a sustainable ceasefire and for enough humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza.

The Canadian government has called for a ceasefire twice, but a ceasefire has not been upheld.

In early January, Canada announced a visa program offered to Gazans with family members in Canada who are either Canadian citizens or permanent residents. 

According to reports from March, not one Gazan has been brought to Canada through this program. 

Many pro-Palestine activists and Palestinian families in Gaza have been calling out Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenships Canada (IRCC) for not doing enough to bring Gazans to Canada through this program.

Miller’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Samar Alkhdour, a Palestinian living in Canada, has been protesting outside of Miller’s office for weeks, demanding that Canada and the IRCC provide visas for Gazans more urgently.

Alkhdour says Canada’s lack of urgency towards providing visas for Gazans killed her daughter Jana. 

Alkhdour has been trying to bring her daughter Jana from Gaza to Canada for years through another immigration program in Canada. 

She says Jana died in January due to malnutrition. Two weeks later, Alkhdour says Jana was approved by Global Affairs Canada to come to Canada, but it was too late. 

Alkhdour gave a speech at the event, calling for others to join her in her protest outside Miller’s office.

Activists are also pushing for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Following the second world war, the United Nations passed a resolution proposing Palestinian land to be split into two states: one for Palestinian Arabs and another for Jewish people – notably European Jewish people who had escaped the Nazis.

A conflict between the two groups started following the U.N. proposal, which intensified after Israel declared itself a sovereign nation on May 14, 1948.

The following day, on May 15, 1948 is when “The Nakba” occurred, translating to the catastrophe in Arabic. This is when an estimated ​​750,000+ Palestinian Arabs were expelled from their homes and forced to flee.

Following the conflict, known as the First Arab-Israeli War, Israel seized more Palestinian land, expanding its borders to include 77% of what was known as Palestine before 1947.

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry deemed Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in violation of international law in 2022, as a result of the nation’s permanency and annexation policies. 

Protesters marched from Dorchester Square to the Israeli consulate in downtown Montreal.