Red Deerians gathered at Red Deer City Hall on Saturday to light candles in honour of the thousands of Palestinians who have died amid the Israel-Hamas war.
“We’re here today to mourn the lives lost in Gaza – the 30,034 people killed and the over-60,000 wounded,” said Lara Alhmidat, who co-organized the candlelight vigil with Caitlyn Bolze.
“We’re here today to pray because the people of the world have been moving … but the people who can actually make a change are not. We’re here … to urge the governments to do something. How many Palestinian lives should be lost before this all stops?”
On Friday, the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide on Gaza. The next day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was defiant after the ruling, declaring “we decide and act according to what is required for our security.” That same morning, three more Palestinians were killed by an airstrike in southern Gaza.
“The genocidal actions have not stopped against Gaza, even though the ICJ (International Court of Justice) ruled to put a stop to it,” Alhmidat said on Saturday.
“As proven by the past 112 days, Israel thinks it’s above international law. They have committed multiple war crimes against international law and they will continue to do so.”
The Israel-Hamas war, which began on Oct. 7, has destroyed vast swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly 85 per cent of the territory’s 2.3 million people.
Alhmidat has ties to Palestine, as her grandparents were forced out of territory and into Jordan by the 1948 Nakba. She also has two friends in Gaza who she hasn’t been able to connect with for two months: brothers Tariq and Mosab.
“Mosab survived the 2014 war. His limbs got cut off from the hip down. He has two fingers on his right hand and three fingers on the left. They evacuated them back in 2014 to get treatment, and that’s when I got to know them,” she said, adding she knows many other Palestinians, but there’s a handful she has stayed in contact with.
“I lost contact with them on Oct. 7 because of the internet blackout. I got in contact with them again during the truce time. The last time I heard from them was Nov. 29. I don’t know if they’re alive or passed away. But this is not about me, Tariq or Mosab. There are two million of them there.”
Alhmidat said supporting Palestine shouldn’t be seen as a political cause.
“It’s about the land. It’s not about any religion or political sides. This is a cause for humanity. If people don’t (act), more people will die. Us as people, we have the power to put pressure on those in power to make it stop. Let’s use that. We are privileged, so let’s use that privilege to be the voice for the voiceless.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter