Local Rally For Palestine as ceasefire holds in conflict with Israel

By Herald on May 24, 2021.

Supporter Ifrah Nadeem waves the Palestinian flag as the Car Rally For Palestine was set to begin Saturday afternoon at the Lethbridge Islamic Centre. Herald photo by Dale Woodard

Dale Woodard – Lethbridge Herald

A group of motorists took to the street for a peaceful demonstration in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

More than 70 people gathered in the parking lot of the Lethbridge Islamic Centre for the Car Rally For Palestine in support of family and friends affected in the 11-day clash that has left over 250 dead, most of them in Gaza.

The clash began May 10 in clashes at al-Aqsa, a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews, in occupied East Jerusalem.

Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes.

On Thursday, a cease fire between Israel and Hamas was agreed on to end the 11-day war, but on Saturday members of Lethbridge’s muslim community gathered to show support.

“This rally is to raise awareness and what has happened in the last couple of weeks in Gaza in Palestine,” said Abdelbasat Aborawi, president of the Lethbridge Muslim Association.

Attending Saturday’s car rally was Naji Saleh.

“We are happy to see that people are understanding that we are out here to raise awareness of what is going on,” said Saleh, who was born in Jordan. “We are expecting lots of people to come out today and to support this for a human cause. Our goal is to make people aware of what is going on. It’s a peaceful protest to say ‘There are people who deserve to live in a peaceful way.’

“We are here in support of human rights. People have the right to worship their God in the holy mosque. Unfortunately, they were prevented from doing that in their holy land, holy mosque and in their holy month.”

Saleh said the group is happy with Thursday’s cease fire.

“But we are looking for international forces to implement this peace and to give Palestinians their right to survive and live in those places,” he said. “Just taking over their houses and building more settlements on the Palestinians land is not going to get anywhere. It is not going to get any peace. This kind of repetitive conflict is happening every few years.”

Zeina Abushaban, a Canadian who is originally from Palestine, said her husband’s family is in Gaza.

“They were terrorized last week,” she said. “They actually left their homes for a while and thank God they are all safe, that is all we hope for. And that is all they care about, is safety. They don’t care about losing their homes, they have a cause.”

Like Saleh, she said Saturday’s gathering was about raising awareness for Palestinian’s basic rights.

“It’s a very sad situation, but I’m very happy that people are now becoming aware in the west and all over the world that Palestinians need rights. We are people, we are not terrorists.”

Pro-Palestine rallies have taken place across Canada and worldwide, but pro-Israel groups have also demonstrated.

In New York, both sides clashed in Times Square on Thursday night.

At Saturday’s rally in Lethbridge at least one individual showed up to represent the pro-Israel side, as a man was observed waving an Israel flag prior to the vehicles leaving the parking lot.

He appeared to leave the scene as the car rally began.

Aborawi said he hoped Saturday’s drive would go smoothly. The Lethbridge Police Service was made aware of the demonstration.

“We’ll try our best to respect all of the traffic laws. We are trying our best to respect all of the health measures. A lot of our Canadian friends have joined us, so we would like to thank them for that as well.”

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