Sergei Did says Israel wants peace. So he's rallying people for that cause.

The Israeli Winnipegger is organizing a pro-Israel rally to be held outside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Monday. The group will meet at Union Station at 4:45 p.m. then move to the museum.

"I'm Israeli and I lived in Israel for most of my childhood," Did said Sunday. "Israel helps people around the world, even Gaza, and people should know that.

"It would nice to see everybody supporting Israel and people would see what's going on there ... We're not here for war, we're here for peace."

Did, who created a Facebook page titled, 'Israel Wants Peace,' is expecting 300-400 people to attend the rally.

"And it won't be all Jewish people, we have a lot of Canadian friends who just want to show support for Israel," said Did, 23.

The Red River College culinary arts student, who moved here when he was 16, plans to host a friendly rally to avoid any conflicts, like a brief encounter that occurred at a recent pro-Palestine rally in the city.

"We're not going to say anything bad about Palestine," Did said. "We're not going to say the Palestinians are equal to Nazis; the Palestinians are controlled by the Hamas. It's just ridiculous."

The Jewish Federation will follow that up with another rally at the Rady JCC gym on the Asper Campus at 7:30 p.m. The Federation reportedly held off on holding one during a ceasefire with the Hamas, but that ceasefire has since been broken.

Those attending the rallies are urged to bring Israel flags.

jim.bender@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @bendersun