Protest in Canada sees 21 pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrested in Halifax

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Police in the Canadian city of Halifax arrested 21 people during a pro-Palestinian protest Monday morning.

In a separate incident Monday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down a busy ocean port terminal in Vancouver on Canada’s west coast.

In Halifax, the capital of the east coast province of Nova Scotia, pro-Palestinian protesters staged a sit-in at a major city intersection.

More than a dozen police arrived and spoke to demonstrators. When some refused to leave, 21 were arrested, CTV News Atlantic reported. Police told reporters that those arrested would be released later Monday but that some faced a charge of obstructing police, The Canadian Press reported. Others are charged with failing to use a sidewalk and failing to obey the instructions of a police officer. No estimate on the number of demonstrators was provided.

In Vancouver, demonstrators held up a sign saying “Canada stop arming genocide” as they blocked access to Global Container Terminals at the Deliport in Vancouver, CityNews reported.

The Deliport is the biggest terminal for goods destined for transport on the Pacific Ocean.

Police were “liaising with protesters and were working to restore order.” There were about 100 protesters.

They were waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Victory is very near,” the Canadian Press reported.

Protesters said in a statement that the Vancouver demonstration was part of the “People’s Picket for Palestine” and was one of the events coordinated worldwide aimed at “disrupting governments and economies that continue to aid and abet Israel’s vicious and inhumane assault on Gaza.”

Some protesters drew a parallel between what is being done in Gaza by Israel to that done by Canada in the past to its Indigenous people.​​​​​​​

“How can we explain to youth that Canada is enabling Israel to carry out that same violent and colonial process against the Palestinian people of Gaza? Israel is making the conditions in Gaza unbearable and unlivable—and they are able to do this because countries like Canada support, fund and arm this violence,” activist and teacher Maryam Adrangi told CityNews.