Windsor's second rally for Palestinian people draws massive crowds Tuesday night
Windsorite Samia Zubaidi says her family in Gaza is not safe — but for now, they are alive.
Coming to Canada from Gaza as a refugee seven years ago, Zubaidi was one of an estimated 1,000 people at a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people on Tuesday night.
"I come tonight to raise my voice against what happened in Gaza. Children [were] killed in Gaza, people [were] kicked out from their homes," said Zubaidi.
Samia Zubaidi came to Canada from Gaza seven years ago. She said she attend the rally in solidarity with Palestinian people on Tuesday to spread awareness about the situation in Gaza, where she still has family. (Kerri Breen/CBC)
"I'm coming here to express my sadness, anger, solidarity with Palestinians while they are facing [the most] strong army and weapon in the world, facing them with just their body."
Zubaidi says her family has left their homes and she's heard of friends who have died in the conflict.
"But you can imagine what life now without food, without electricity, without water, and even there they are not safe anywhere," Zubaidi said. "They bombed the hospital today."
"We're just like waiting, worried what the next moment will carry for us."
Hundreds of people were killed in an airstrike on a Gaza hospital on Tuesday — but Israel has denied involvement in the attack, saying it was a misfired rocket from the group Islamic Jihad.
Israel has carried out airstrikes in Gaza since an attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry says. The Israeli military said at least 199 hostages were taken into Gaza.
The second such rally in less than a week, Tuesday's event in Windsor attracted enough people to block traffic in one direction on Ouellette Avenue for blocks at a time as attendees marched from the riverfront through downtown.
Windsor police maintained a presence throughout the march.
Zubaidi says she hopes people can learn more about the history of Gaza and the conflict with Israel.
"Unfortunately, most of the people [don't] know about what happened in Palestine … When they see a conflict, when they see violence they think of the last action," she said.
A rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people attracted about 1,000 people in a massive crowd on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (Kathleen Saylors/CBC)
"It means something, but it doesn't really mean something if you didn't understand the start of this conflict."
Hasan Radwan is Palestinian, born and raised in Qatar and living in Windsor for the last five years. He says he too has family in Gaza right now and recently received a voice memo from a great uncle.
"They are suffering. They said, 'Can you please forgive us, forgive us, don't hold grudges we are in terrible times, any second we could get bombed,'" Radwan said. "It really hurt my feelings."
Radwan said he hoped to spread awareness for the current conditions in Gaza, and was pleased by the turnout at Tuesday's rally.
"It's no longer a Palestinian or any ethnicity issue," he said, noting the attack on the hospital in Gaza. "At this point it's a humanity issue. All of us should stand with each other and talk for justice.
"It's really horrific, that's why I said let me come here, raise my voice raise my awareness."
A person carried a sign at a pro-Palestinian rally on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023 in Windsor. (Kathleen Saylors/CBC)
A previous march in support of Gaza attracted about 500 people last week, and one person, who had been carrying an Israeli flag, was briefly handcuffed by the police after a confrontation between protesters that was quickly denounced by organizers.
Speaking to CBC prior to that rally Dan Brotman, the executive director of the Windsor Jewish Federation and Community Centre, said he understood the need for solidarity with the Palestinian people but said any support for Hamas was "abhorrent."
Brotman also urged more community groups to offer support and allyship to the Jewish community in Windsor in the wake of the attack by Hamas.
