On Saturday, dozens of community members gathered in Duncan for a rally and march demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel. The march — organized by the Freedom from War Coalition — also included calls to elected representatives to sign a letter urging the Canadian government to demand a ceasefire, something that some representatives in the Cowichan Valley have done.
Rally attendees carried signs that said “ceasefire now” and waved Palestinian flags. They chanted “free, free Palestine” as they marched from Duncan’s Charles Hoey Park, through downtown, and to Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Alistair MacGregor’s office. Honks of support came from cars passing by and outnumbered a few shouts from people in opposition to the rally.
“Gaza is the land of unfinished dreams where children grow up with so many dreams similar to all children around the world,” said Sara Kishawi, a speaker at the rally. “The difference is in Gaza, children’s dreams get cut short. You know something is not right when 11,000 people are murdered and called collateral damage — when 5,000 children are killed.”
The rally in Duncan took place just days before a four-day ceasefire in Gaza was announced. The ceasefire is set to begin on Friday morning and the deal includes the release of some hostages by both Israel and Hamas, as well as the allowance of aid trucks to enter Gaza. But calls for a permanent ceasefire continue, with another rally scheduled to take place in Duncan on Nov. 25.
“It’s too much. I have to get out on the streets and say, ‘This has to stop. We need a ceasefire.’ That’s what this rally is,” says Freedom From War Coalition member Roger Crowther. “It’s in our hands to hold the government accountable.”
‘The land of unfinished dreams’
The decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine was recently brought to the forefront for much of the world again after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas — a militant Palestinian and Islamic group that was formed to resist Israeli occupation in Palestine. Israeli authorities say an estimated 1,200 people were killed and around 240 people were kidnapped. The attacks were followed by an unrelenting Israeli siege that has killed more than 14,500 people in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
The Gaza Strip is a small area of Palestinian land that is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Egypt. It is surrounded by walls and fences erected by Israel. More than two million people reside in the Gaza Strip and most of them are Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The Gaza Strip has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt for years, restricting movement of people and goods in and out of the area. The majority of the residents live in poverty and access to clean water and electricity has been at “crisis levels,” according to UNRWA. The Save the Children organization says almost half the population of the Gaza Strip is children.
As of Nov. 23, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports at least 53 journalists and media workers have been killed since Oct. 7. Of those, 46 were Palestinian, four were Israeli and three were Lebanese. Many more have been reported injured and arrested, with three reported missing. The committee says there have also been multiple assaults, threats, cyber attacks and censorship of journalists, as well as killings of journalists’ family members.
United Nations experts have called the violations committed by Israel against Palestine following Oct. 7 a “genocide in the making,” and the World Health Organization has called for ceasefire, access to humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages and a stop to attacks on health care infrastructure.
A call to community members to learn more
Kishawi moved to Nanaimo from Gaza City — within the Gaza Strip — in 2011. She is a student at VIU and started a committee to organize events in response to the conflict taking place in her homeland. The events include rallies and educational opportunities like film nights.
“It’s the bare minimum that I can do. It’s such a sense of duty to my country, to my people, to my family, to my friends,” Kisawhi says in an interview with The Discourse. “It’s all I can do to support them from all the way over here and make sure that the country I’m in does not support the genocide that is happening against my own people.”
Kishawi came to Canada with her parents and siblings — who were also in attendance at the Duncan rally — and she says she still has a lot of family and friends in Gaza. The war is all her family talks about right now, with news playing in the background all day as they anxiously wait for updates from loved ones in Gaza. Sometimes they don’t hear from anyone for days because the internet and telecommunications has become so unreliable.
Kishawi had plans to return to Gaza in June after graduating. If she had the chance, she said she would go back right now.
“My plan has always been to go back to Gaza to work there and be with my people, surrounded by my family,” Kishawi says. “Hopefully, I still get to go and focus my work on nonprofits — rebuilding Gaza, making sure that people there have futures and the children can dream.”
A recent rally Kishawi organized in Nanaimo was attended by around 500 people, she says, and she has been putting pressure on Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog to join more than 70 elected officials in B.C. who have signed a letter calling on the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire.
Kishawi says she’s not asking people to take sides, but asks that people educate themselves on the history of this decades-long conflict.
“This did not start on Oct. 7,” she says, “It’s been going on for 75 years.”
Crowther says he understands that this is a difficult issue for people to understand and cope with. He doesn’t blame people for not showing up at the rally, but urges people to read multiple news sources and follow journalists who are on the ground in order to gain a better understanding of what’s happening in Gaza. He says that in this day and age, when everything is posted online for the world to see, we can’t turn a blind eye to what’s happening.
“We have no excuse today. We know what’s going on,” Crowther says. “I think there’s a lot of people that are still trying to deal with this … All I ask people to do is to read independent sources for news.”
Cowichan elected representatives sign letter calling for ceasefire
For the past few weeks, a letter from local government leaders in B.C. urging the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire has been circulating and collecting signatures. The document was created on Nov. 1 and as of Nov. 23, has 80 signatures including some from elected representatives in the Cowichan Valley. The letter also urges the federal government to “support unrestricted access to humanitarian aid” and “secure the release of all hostages.”
Additionally, “we condemn all acts of anti-semitism, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia in our communities, which have risen since the escalation of violence this past month, and will work to ensure our communities are just, safe and welcoming for all,” according to the letter. “We stand with innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilians, during a heartbreaking time, in saying that Canada must act now.”
North Cowichan councillors Chris Istace and Christopher Justice, Duncan Coun. Jenni Capps, Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples and Ladysmith Coun. Ray Gourlay all appear on the list of signatories.
Citizens in Duncan and North Cowichan have also signed an open letter to their mayors and council asking them to add their names to the list of elected representatives in B.C. calling for a ceasefire. Three local organizations — the Freedom From War Coalition, Revolve Cowichan and North Cowichan Cop Watch — have also signed the open letter.
“The massacre in Gaza and the colonization of Palestine over the decades has been horrific to witness. Because Canada was also built on genocide and occupation the struggle feels clear and unfortunately familiar,” an email statement from the groups that created the open letter reads. “We are heartened, though, to see over 50 municipal leaders in this province step up to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and are encouraged by the solidarity shown by people of the Cowichan Valley. We are hopeful that our local elected officials will join the call and contribute to the movement towards justice.”
The Discourse reached out to Cowichan Valley mayors, councillors and area directors asking if they support calling on the Government of Canada to demand a ceasefire in Palestine. They were also given the option to elaborate on why, or why not and add anything else they’d like to say about the issue.
Area I (Youbou/Meade Creek) director Karen Deck and Area E (Cowichan Station/Sahtlam/Glenora) director Alison Nicholson responded saying they do support calling on the federal government to demand a ceasefire in Palestine.
Speaking on behalf of himself and not North Cowichan Council, Coun. Chris Istace said in an email reply that he also supports the call for a ceasefire “in light of the humanitarian crisis that is disproportionately affecting so many children in Gaza.”
“While Hamas must answer for the horrendous actions they have taken and additionally the hostages must be released, this cannot happen without the Israeli Government committing to their responsibility to protect all innocent lives and not cause irreconcilable harm, suffering and even death,” Istace said.
This Discourse has not received any other responses from local elected representatives, but will update the story if and when they come in.
The Duncan rally was organized last-minute, Crowther says, and some local elected representatives weren’t able to attend for that reason.
In lieu of attendance, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Alistair MacGregor’s office sent a letter signed by all members of the NDP caucus, including MacGregor and New Democrat party leader Jagmeet Singh.
The statement condemns a rise in antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia taking place across Canada and urges Canada to call for an immediate ceasefire and release of all hostages, demand humanitarian access to Gaza, ensure Canadians can leave the region safely, halt arms sales to Israel and more. It also calls on Canada to “advocate for an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories and work toward a two-state solution.”
