Winnipeggers in support of Palestine held a vigil outside the Israel Folklorama pavilion on Sunday evening.

A group of about 15 protesters, made up of members from several organizations including Independent Jewish Voices, Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, and Peace Alliance Winnipeg, peacefully sat across the street from the pavilion entrance at the Asper Jewish Community Campus.

This year marked the fourth time the group had protested at the pavilion.

“We’ve been organizing primarily around the siege of Gaza a number of years ago, and the loss of hundreds of lives and innocent men, women, and children,” said Harold Shuster of Independent Jewish Voices. “We wanted to make sure that the people going into the pavilion tonight know that there is another side of what the Israeli government is telling them and what they’re celebrating inside. This is not an attempt to say that you can’t celebrate Israeli culture, but to make sure that people know that what the Israeli government is doing has been denying Palestinians their rights.”

The group passed out pamphlets to pavilion patrons, showing a stark contrast between life in Israel and Gaza, while security stood by. Protesters also plan to hold a vigil on Wednesday.

“We come prepared for people to tell us that we don’t know what’s going on, and that we don’t know the truth,” said Shuster, who is Jewish. “Many of the people protesting here were forced to leave Palestine. But I’m here because I don’t like what Israel is doing supposedly in my name.”

Additionally, the group protested what they deem to be a misrepresentative Israel pavilion.

“The pavilion doesn’t acknowledge the cultural diversity of the state of Israel,” organizer and Peace Alliance Winnipeg member Candice Bodnaruk said Saturday. “There’s a large Jewish population, but there’s also 1.2 million Palestinians, including Muslims and Christians, but their experience isn’t reflected in the pavilion. The pavilion basically reflects a Jewish state and Jewish culture.”

Organizers of the Israel pavilion said they are open to suggestions, but acknowledge that Folklorama is not a political event.

“The Israel pavilion has been a part of Folklorama for as long as I can remember,” Jewish Federation of Winnipeg president Adam Levene said. “We welcome everyone to our pavilion, and Folklorama is about engaging all cultural communities. We hope everybody comes and can learn about Israel. The committee that puts on the pavilion would be happy to hear opinions on how we can make it even better. Folklorama isn’t a political event, it’s a multicultural event. So it’s not designed in that perspective whatsoever.”

jfriesen@postmedia.com