On the first night of Passover and the past few days,  while some of us and our community sat at seder tables across the country, 31 unarmed Palestinian protesters were shot and killed by Israeli forces and more than 1,500 were shot with live ammunition.

This is not what freedom looks like.

On Monday, April 9th at 5:30pm, we will gather as Jews in rage and sorrow outside the Consulate General of Israel to mourn the deaths of the 31 Palestinian protesters in Gaza by reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish prayer to honour those no longer with us.

Please join us in this Jewish ritual of mourning. No knowledge of Hebrew or Jewish ritual is necessary.

We are gathering outside the Consulate because violence against protesters contradict our Jewish values.

In Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) declared the border a "closed military zone," using the same tactics it uses in the West Bank to arbitrarily restrict Palestinian freedom of movement. A new report from Human Rights Watch just declared Israel's actions as unlawful and calculated, saying "the high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms." This is part of the daily nightmare of occupation and anti-Palestinian policies.

Yet from many Jewish institutions, there has been only silence — or, even, worse, full support for Israel's actions. As Jews who believe in freedom and dignity for all, we must resist and reject this. To remain silent in the face of these injustices is to disregard the story of struggle and freedom we tell each year at Passover.

Together, we will ask our community: Why is Palestinian freedom different than all other struggles for freedom? We will gather together to mourn the lives lost in Gaza and demand action and accountability from our community's institutions.

Please email ifnotnowtoronto@gmail.com with any questions, concerns, or accessibility needs.