While the holiday season has swept over the city of Yellowknife and temperatures have dipped down below the minus twenty degree range, a group of Yellowknifers are taking to the streets to call for an end to the war in Gaza.
“We come out here once a week. We stand for an hour and let people know that this is still going on. And it’s not just a human rights issue. It is a very specifically Canadian issue,” said Shannon Moore.
Moore, is a representative for the Yellowknife group Citizens for Ceasefire, who are calling for an end to the violence overseas. Moore says that the crisis in Gaza is an issue everyone should be concerned about.
Moore says that the struggles of people who are facing homelessness in Yellowknife are not unconnected to the struggles of people in Palestine.
“It’s not lost on us that we’re standing here (around the) corner from a day shelter that was controversial, a few years ago, to make space for people who are underhoused – to have a warm space in the winter,” says Moore.
Judy Poitras is also a volunteer with Citizens for Ceasefire. Poitras says that all forms of violence, whether they take place in Yellowknife or in Gaza are connected and often “unseen.” Poitras explained that by protesting the group hopes to raise awareness that the violence in Gaza continues despite the international calls for ceasefire.
Internationally, a UN Independent Commission of Inquiry has urged all nations “to end the genocide.”
Journalists covering the conflict have reported that the ceasefire in Gaza has become more like a “reducefire” with attacks continuing “almost daily.”
Citizens for Ceasefire of Yellowknife are calling out for support of Bill C-233. The group hopes the proposed legislation will prevent the potential for indirect arms pathways.
MP Jenny Kwan, who presented the bill also known as the No More Loopholes Bill in Parliament is calling for the federal government to close gaps in Canada’s arms export laws that could allow weapons parts to be shipped through the U.S. into conflict zones without oversight.
Poitras and fellow protesters say it is an issue of “ongoing colonialism” that for many reasons can go unseen.
“It’s here, it’s alive and well, you see it on the streets of Yellowknife and across Canada, but it’s quite apparent it’s time for change and it’s going to take a system change. So we do hope that people, even if they don’t know what’s going on, they might see our signs. They might wonder, they might look something up and, and also feel similarly and maybe join in, maybe write their MP, call their MP, ask for change and keep working towards equity and justice,” said Moore.
Jennifer Rafferty, who is a volunteer with Citizens for Ceasefire, said in her view, the crisis in the Gaza has connections to colonial violences happening across the globe.
“When we talk about Palestine and we say free Palestine, we’re also saying free Congo, free Haiti, free Sudan, free Syria, free Lebanon. We understand that all systems of oppression and struggle are interconnected and that’s why we also acknowledge, the struggle and oppression and genocide of Indigenous people in so-called Canada. Sometimes people say, well, we have to take care of people here first and I like to just kind of remind folks that, all of systems of oppression are meant to keep people down. They’re meant to keep people struggling so that they can’t organize and they can’t think critically about the situations that they’re in. So, it’s just like something that’s really important for us is like this is not just about Palestine. This is about our collective humanity and our moral obligation to stand up for one another.”
