Edmonton protesters join call for no war on Iran
A group of anti-war demonstrators took to the streets of Edmonton on Saturday calling on the Canadian government to withdraw troops from Iraq and re-establish diplomatic relations with Iran.
The "No War on Iran" rally was one of hundreds of similar demonstrations taking place worldwide this weekend, organized in the wake of recent military hostilities between the United States and Iran.
About 100 people gathered at the End of Steel Park as organizers denounced what they called U.S. aggression in the Middle East.
"The issue for us is to put an end to foreign meddling, aggression, occupation and war, and the destruction that it's bringing," said Peggy Morton, an organizer with Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism (ECAWAR).
The global day of action comes after an American drone strike killed Iran's top military general Qassem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad earlier this month, sparking fears of war. Iran then retaliated with a missile strike against two bases in Iraq housing American troops.
The conflict has reignited frustration over the U.S. presence in Iraq, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets of Baghdad on Friday to demand the withdrawal of foreign troops. The Iraqi parliament has also called on the government to expel troops.
"The Iraqi people have made it very clear that they want the Americans to leave, they want the foreign troops to leave. And we respect their sovereignty, their right to decide," Morton said.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said the government would withdraw roughly 500 Canadian troops if the Iraqi government presented a formal request.
Counter-protestors accuse rally of pro-Iranian message
A group of counter-demonstrators from the Edmonton-Iranian community also attended Saturday's event to voice concerns that the rally was too sympathetic to the Iranian government. An online petition raising similar issues gathered nearly 200 signatures in the lead up to the rally.
In particular, some counter-demonstrators criticized an ECAWAR Facebook post that called Gen. Soleimani an anti-terrorist hero, in reference to his part in battling ISIS forces in the region.
"It's important to recognize that he was the leader of a recognized terrorist entity by the Canadian government," said Payman Parseyan, a member of the Edmonton-Iranian community.
"We as the Iranian-Canadian citizens here and community members are here to raise the voices of those who are voiceless in Iran, to make sure that these atrocities are held to account, that there's justice for the people that are voiceless and helpless in that region of the world," Parseyan said, citing numerous human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian government.
The conversations between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators were mostly civil, but briefly escalated into a shouting match during the rally. Some counter-demonstrators tried to drown out a speaker with chants of "down with the Islamic Republic of Iran", but the crowd responded by chanting "no war on Iran."
Morton said the rally had nothing to do with the Iranian government and accused the counter-demonstrators of mischaracterizing their message.
"We stand against regime change. We're not an organization that interferes in the rights of people in any country to decide their own affairs. Our purpose here is to say what we think Canada should do and oppose U.S. aggression," Morton said.
Organizers also called on Canada to withdraw from NATO because of what they call the risk of being dragged into war with the U.S. The military coalition is based on the guarantee of mutual defence, meaning an armed attack against one of the 29 member countries is considered an attack against them all.
Morton says reopening diplomatic relations with Iran, which have been frozen since 2012, could help Canada move toward peaceful resolution and away from escalating conflict.
