As destruction of buildings in the north of Gaza City and airstrikes on residential areas in central Beirut continue, Israeli Occupation Forces continue to target and kill civilians daily including healthcare workers. It’s been more than 400 days of bloodshed.  

The people of Ottawa cannot in good conscience sit at home and watch Palestinian men, women and children maimed and killed by indiscriminate bombings. For over a year, week after week, residents have come out to demand justice and peace with few incidents. This week, the Ottawa police and the City of Ottawa continued to repress peaceful protesters and attack our Charter protected right to peaceful assembly.

We demand:

1. All charges against our community members arrested on November 18, 23, and 24, 2024 be dropped;
2. An independent investigation into events–including deliberate attempts to incite violence on the part of the OPS–that led to the arrests on November 18, 2024, November 23, 2024 and November 24, 2024; and,
3. An investigation into the decisions of when the standard practice of marching in the streets was deemed to be mischief, and further, a reversal of this decision.