Pro-Palestine activists gathered at Square Victoria Metro on February 18 for a march to Place-des-Arts.

The protest aimed to continue mobilizing against Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza and to bring awareness about Quebec and its ties to Israel.

Protesters stopped outside of the Conseil Exécutif office of François Legault, on Sherbrooke, to speak on Quebec’s opening of an office in Tel Aviv.

Palestinian Youth Movement addressed the Quebec office opening in Tel Aviv, stating that thousands of people have signed a petition demanding Quebec not to open an office in Tel Aviv. They say opening this office would be normalizing genocide and uphold the lack of support for Palestinian lives and voices in Canada. 

Two petitions of nearly 12,000 signatures were signed opposing the opening of the Tel Aviv office.

As of February 28, the office has since opened. The head of the Quebec mission is in the process of relocating from Quebec to Tel Aviv.

At the end of the march, a woman spoke up about being fired from her job for being openly pro-Palestinian.

Iyad Abuhamed, a member of Palestinians Abroad, urged participants to keep speaking up for Gaza, saying, “Keep talking about Gaza as if you are the only one. If all stops, don’t stop. If all give up, don’t ever give up. Keep acting. Keep moving. Keep changing. Keep your spirit up. Keep your voice loud.”

Montreal4Palestine organizer Bara Abuhamed added to the sentiment, calling attention to what Palestinian children are doing to survive. “Eight years old in Palestine are feeding their families. They have been forced to mature and work jobs to bring money back to their families. What do you have to lose? I am willing to lose my job, my education, my everything for Palestine. When we speak up, those who are against us are the problem. When we speak up about justice, whoever has a problem with us is the problem. [...]What do we have to lose? Nothing! We only have our liberation to gain. We only have our dignity to gain. We only have the freedom of Palestinians to gain. Bring everyone you can next week because time is running out.”