Rachad Antonius, Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal, December 31 2008

Photo: Israeli military siege on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government’s propaganda about the war in Gaza has been uncritically accepted by Canadian media, becoming the dominant discourse in most news reports. The violence we are witnessing is explained by declaring that Hamas has broken the truce with Israel, and therefore it is responsible for the current level of Israeli violence, which is thereby represented merely as a reasonable and justified retaliation. According to this view, Israel is only defending itself against a vicious enemy which is still intent on destroying it. At best, the excesses of the attacks against Gaza are deplored, but their presentation as retaliation is not even questioned.

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vigil in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

FRIDAY JANUARY 2nd 12h00
corner St. Catherine & McGill College ave.
Indigo Bookstore
corner of St. Catherine & McGill College
(metro McGill)
Montreal, Canada

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gather at ‘Solidarité Gaza’ banner from 11pm to 12am at the Pavillion Jaques Cartier.

DECEMBER 31st, 2008: 11pm – 12am
at the Pavillon Jacques-Cartier
old port of Montreal
metro Place d’Armes
(see map below)

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Photo: Per Bjorklund. Demonstration in downtown Cairo in solidarity with Gaza.

Protests erupted on the streets of Cairo, Egypt only hours after the first air strikes hit in the current Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Special focus has been directed at the Egyptian government’s role in the ongoing crisis in Gaza, as protesters across the Middle East denounced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak collusion with Israeli authorities in maintaining a complete closure on Gaza throughout the past year. Gaza remains under siege and completely cut-off from the outside world as Egyptian police and military maintain a complete closure on the Gaza Strip in coordination with Israeli along the southern Rafah border crossing.

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Photo: Fil Kaler. Protesters pray for Palestine outside Israeli embassy, London.

As protest swept the globe in solidarity with Gaza this past weekend an estimated 2000 people attended a noisy demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in London, England on Sunday in response to Israeli air strikes that left hundreds dead in the Gaza Strip.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 4th 12h30
carré Cabot: corner St. Catherine | Atwater
(metro Atwater)
Montreal, Quebec

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Photo essay by Sabrien Amrov on Montreal demonstration in solidarity with Gaza.

Photo: Sabrien Amrov. Hundreds gather in downtown Montreal in solidarity with Gaza.

Montreal, Quebec December 2008: In response to the current Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip, hundreds gathered in downtown Montreal to protest the Israeli assault which has until now killed an estimated 300 Palestinians, the majority civilians. Air strikes continue to pound Gaza for the fourth consecutive day, as high level Israeli officials have labelled the offensive an “all-out war”, while from Beirut to Cairo major protests have swept across the Middle East. Additional protests and actions in solidarity with Gaza will occur in Montreal within the upcoming days.

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Photo: Drapeau Palestinien.

Quelques centaines de personnes ont marché dans les rues du centre-ville de Montréal, cet après-midi, pour condamner les raids israéliens sur la bande de Gaza. Les manifestants ont vertement critiqué la réaction du gouvernement Harper, qu’ils ont qualifiée de «trop frileuse» au lendemain des attaques qui ont tué près de 300 Palestiniens et en ont blessé plus de 700 autres.

«Israël: assassin! Harper: complice!» ont scandé les protestataires alors qu’ils défilaient dans la rue Sainte-Catherine. Dans la foule, des pancartes demandant «que cesse le blocus de Gaza» ou qualifiant les attaques de «génocide massif» s’élevaient au-dessus des têtes parmi des drapeaux palestiniens.

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Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, has told his fighters to be on alert for any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon following raids on Gaza that have killed nearly 300 Palestinians.

Nasrallah told a gathering in Beirut’s southern suburbs that the Israeli assault on Gaza was a carbon copy of its attacks on Lebanon during a 34-day war with Hezbollah in 2006.

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Photo: Palestinians mourn over mass killings under Israeli strikes in Gaza.

Here’s an update on what’s happening here from where I am, the second night of Israeli air (and sea) raids on Gaza.

It’s 1:30am but it feels like the sun should be up already. For the past few hours there’s been simultaneous, heavy aerial bombardment of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. It feels like the longest night of my life. In my area it started with the bombing of workshops (usually located in the ground floor of private/family residential buildings), garages and warehouses in one of the most highly condensed areas in Gaza City, “Askoola.”

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