Sunday shoppers meet angry chorus
Sunday shoppers on Ste. Catherine street were startled by a cacophony of voices. Rising above the din of consumerism, a chorus of profound human anger and frustration arose, voiced by hundreds of demonstrators furious with the overnight death of over 270 people in Gaza, killed by Israeli bombs. Traffic snarled as the street was transformed from consumer mecca into critical resistance – a mass of Palestinian flags waving amongst placards denouncing Israeli aggression and genocide.
Montreal protest
As shoppers stared, stupefied, the mob stopped to denounce Chapters and Indigo, two bookstores that have connections to what was described as the “apartheid regime” of Israel. Governmental policies are designed to keep Palestinians imprisoned in their own lands, such as Gaza.
protestors march along St-Catherine
The angry voices were so loud that even the infamously noisy “spoon-man” busker, usually in front of the tony Ogilvy’s department store, stopped clacking and put down his wooden spoons down as the march passed.
protest passes spoonman
The crowd eventually arrived at Philips Square, where speeches were made denouncing the violence, including one by newly-elected member of Quebec Solidaire, Dr. Amir Khadir, himself of Iranian heritage. Dr. Khadir denounced the aggression, and demanded that the Quebec and Canadian governments take action for peace:
The next protest is scheduled for January 10th, contact tadamon organizers to get involved.
