Massive protests in Canada for Gaza’s permanent ceasefire

Thousands of people demonstrated waving Palestinian flags in front of the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa, on Saturday, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The demonstration included a variety of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, anti-war, labour, and social justice organisations.

This came following the launch of an electronic petition submitted to lawmakers on Friday after collecting 286,719 signatures (said to be the highest number of signatures on an electronic petition in Parliament) urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to press for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. 

Trudeau had previously stated that the killing of “women, children and infants” in the war between Israel and Hamas must stop, which sparked sharp criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.