Huge rallies for Palestine in Toronto

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Israeli settlement, Ma’ale Adumim, in the SA members, at display tables and on the occupied Palestinian West Bank. march, sold newspapers, booklets and but­ CAIA urges a boycott of Israeli products tons - the most popular of which, ‘End the and services, and those of international Occupation, Support the Intifada’, was in companies involved in Israel’s human high demand. rights violations. The most common Israeli On July 26 an even larger gathering was exports include fresh fruit and vegetables held in connection with the annual Al Quds (such as Jaffa citrus fruits and Israeli Med­ (Jerusalem Day) Muslim celebration. Offi­ joul Dates), Ahava cosmetics, SodaStream cial spokespersons claimed, at the conclud­ drinks machines, Golan Heights Wineries ing rally held across from the U.S. Consul­ Rate on University Ave., that it was the larg­ The Socialist Action banner “Smash Zion­ est pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist gathering in ist Apartheid—Free Palestine” was promi­ North America that day, with over 25,000 nent in the midst of the surging crowd. participating.

there was a scarcity of union ban­ ners and flags. However, people carried a wide variety of placards, both professionally produced and home-made.Organizers at the concluding rally released over a hundred balloons into the air, each representing a child killed by the Israeli military.

Rival gatherings contended for attention at Queen’s Park on July 26. A Toronto Star article reported that “critics of Israel’s military as­ saults, and defenders” of the Zi­ onist state, stood opposed to each other, which is true.

But the article failed to mention that there were well over 20,000 in the pro-Palestinian rally, and its march down University Avenue, while less than 800 participated in the Zi­ onist assembly. A posted video recording, taken from high above the crowds by a drone helicopter-mounted camera, as well as thousands of ground-level photographs, prove the point. The ratio was 20:1 in favor of the supporters of the beleaguered resi­ dents of Gaza.

Was omission of the facts concerning the huge disproportion between the two sides that gathered in front of the Ontario Leg­ islature, merely an oversight? Or was it a reflection of editorial policy? n out nuclear power plants, stopping Line 9, satisfying the just claims of indigenous peoples, curtailing state surveillance, and terminating police repression of the kind that was unleashed during the G-20 Summit in To­ ronto. There was not even a hint that the problems faced today by the vast majority of Ontarions are rooted in the decaying and increasingly destructive capitalist system. The ONDP Leader campaigned on “integrity.” But she ignored a party convention decision to be tougher on the Ontario Liberal budget of 2012/13. On her watch, party conventions provide less and less time for policy debate. And Horwath’s Election Planning Committee undemo­ cratically prevents leftists from being NDP candidates. As big business pressure mounts on the Liberal gov­ (continued on page 11, in “NDPers petition to remove Ontario Leader Horwath”)