Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt Canadian lawmakers in parliament

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Pro-Palestinian protesters invaded Canada’s parliament Wednesday with shouts of “Free Palestine” and “Stop arming Israel.”

While the protest was small, it did spur New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh to question Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on arms shipments to Israel.

“The prime minister has the power and responsibility to protect civilians. When will the prime minister stop selling arms to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu?” Singh said.

Trudeau replied that Canada had not issued any new arms export permits since Oct. 7.

The handful of protesters, lodged in the public gallery, displayed banners calling for an arms embargo. They were quickly taken by security staff and the protesters were escorted outside.

The disruption happened just as Trudeau finished answering a question from Pierre Poilievre, leader of the official opposition Conservative Party.

Debate was suspended for a few minutes. After the incident, some Conservative and Bloc Quebecois members of parliament insisted they saw NDP members applauding the protesters, The Canadian Press reported.

Anita Anand, Liberal member of parliament and president of the Treasury Board, later put a positive spin on the interruption.

“We need to make sure that we allow groups to have their voices, and that's exactly what happened,” Anand told reporters. “And then we resumed our business.”

Once the protesters were outside on Parliament Hill, some continued to chant. There was at least one arrest. The Palestine Youth Movement took credit for the disruption.

“We are a group of concerned citizens that's against genocide of Palestinians and our country is not only complicit but aiding in the genocide of Palestinians,” one unidentified protestor told CTV News as she was taken away in handcuffs.