Montreal, October 26, 2023 – This Friday, October 27 at 3pm, local Palestinian, Jewish and other neighborhood families will be protesting in front of Rachel Bendayan’s Outremont constituency office to demand the Canadian government call for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli siege and blockade of Gaza. We will honour the children of Gaza with stories, songs, and chants of protest. We invite press attendance and interviews.
As of October 24, 2023, between 2,300 and 3,000 (according to UNICEF and Palestinian authorities) Palestinian children have been killed since Israel began bombarding Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7. Their parents will never again hold and kiss them and tuck them into bed.
Half of the population of Gaza are under the age of 18. They have lived their whole lives under siege; as The Guardian reports, “In Gaza, a child aged 15 has experienced five periods of intense bombardment in their life: 2008-9, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now 2023.”
After the current retributive military operation, the childhoods of over one million Palestinian children will have been shattered. Mental health professionals report that Gaza’s children are suffering acute traumatic distress, with symptoms like bed-wetting and convulsions, after over two weeks of shelling.
Over 130 infants are in NICU units in Gaza; all of them will die within minutes if power is lost, and their survival remains precarious while Israel maintains its blockade on medical supplies.
50,000 pregnant women are trapped in Gaza; of these, over 5,000 are expected to give birth alone in the next month, as the healthcare system collapses. Midwives in Gaza are reporting babies dying within their first hours of life due to maternal stress and the lack of even basic medical supplies.
The kids and families of Mile End,Outremont, and the broader Montreal community stand with the kids and families of Gaza. We stand for the basic right of Palestinian children to food, water, shelter, education, safety, and the chance to grow up. We stand against Israel’s war crimes and the destruction of schools and hospitals.
We invite press attendance and interviews.
