------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 24, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
SPIRIT OF INTIFADA COMES TO OTTAWA By Elise Hugus Ottawa, Ontario, Canada The spirit of Intifada came to Ottawa on Sept. 28. In a rally to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon, protesters called for the Canadian government to cease its support of Israel. In 1982, the Lebanese Phalangist militia killed a confirmed 2,750 people under the supervision of the Israeli Defense Forces. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, at that time minister of defense and commander of the IDF, was responsible for the crime. Buses pulled up to Major's Hill Park in Ottawa, facing the U.S. Embassy, from Montreal, Kingston and Toronto. Organizers of the event included the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and Palestinian and Jewish Unity. They estimated that 5,000 demonstrators marched. Similar demonstrations were held in San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris and Berlin, according to organizers. Volunteer pallbearers led the march, carrying cardboard coffins draped with the red, black, green and white Palestinian flag. Marchers broke out of line to dance to the beat of traditional Palestinian hand drums. By nightfall, Parliament Hill was illuminated with candles lit for every victim of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. Their words echoing over Ottawa's idyllic canals, speakers called for the Canadian government to cut off support for Israel, which they called "a racist, apartheid state." Although Canada's aid to Israel doesn't come close to the $6 billion provided annually by the U.S. government, the Canada- Israel Free Trade Agreement has been in place since 1992. Other contracts, such as the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation, help to promote the Israeli war economy. One of the protesters' stated demands was Palestinian refugees' right to return to their homeland. Some were expelled as long ago as 1948. "There's always been a double standard when it comes to international refugee law," said Chadi Marouf, director of the SPHR. Referring to Israel's flouting of a recent United Nations resolution calling for immediate withdrawal from the Occupied Territories, he said, "It's mockery of the judicial justice system of the world." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
