HALIFAX—A crowd of more than 50 gathered in Halifax on Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Palestinian Exodus, an event known in the community as the Nakba (catastrophe).

This occurred just one day after Israeli forces at the Gaza border killed 59 Palestinian protesters.

“Worldwide, today is being marked as Nakba Day,” said the organizer of Tuesday’s Halifax protest, Jim Guild. “It marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.”

Guild, with the group Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace, helped bring people together outside the Halifx Public Gardens at the corner of Spring Garden Rd. and South Park St. to call on the Canadian government to speak out against the killing of protesters in Gaza.

“If this was another country, I think we’d be hearing about it, or the government would say, ‘This is appalling,’” Guild said. “It seems like the whole world knows the score in Israel and Palestine, except for North America.”

Protesters, led by Helmi Alfarra, chanted slogans like, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, occupation has to fall,” “Gaza Gaza don’t you cry, Palestine will never die,” and “Donald Trump, you will see, Palestine will be free.” They held signs proclaiming “70 years too many” and “Stop Israel’s illegal occupation.”

Obayda Afghani, who was born in the Palestinian territory, said she was “angry and outraged and frustrated” about the killings on Monday: “You hear condemnations here and there, but is that enough? They’re not doing anything.”

Afghani said she’d like the Canadian government at least tell the Israeli ambassador that this is not OK.

“I was born before the 1967 occupation. I witnessed occupation as a five-year-old child. Our homes were destroyed,” Afghani said.

Ismail Zayid, with the Canada Palestine Association, said he too was forced out of Palestine.

“My home and my village was systematically wiped out in 1967 when the Israelis occupied the West Bank,” Zayid said.

Zayid said he came to Canada to teach at Dalhousie University in 1972, and wants to see the Canadian government put pressure on the Israelis to implement international law.

“There’s been continuous violation of international law and human rights of people who have been dispossessed and driven out of their homeland in 1948 – hundreds of thousands of them,” Zayid said.

Zayid referred specifically to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 194, of 1948, which states in part, “Refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

“Our government and other governments, United States and European governments and so on, should apply pressure to implement international law,” Zayid said.

Afghani called the peace process, ongoing since the 1990s, “deceptive,” and said Israelis have been continuously settling Palestinian land.

“We are a nation that deserves a land to live on, and they’re eating it up,” she said.

“We want peace. We want a two-state solution, but where is the land that a state will be established for Palestinians? There is no such thing.”

On Monday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted that her government was, “Deeply concerned by violence in Gaza Strip.”

“We are saddened by deaths + injuries that occurred today + over past weeks. It is inexcusable that civilians, journalists + children have been victims. All parties to the conflict have a responsibility to ensure civilians are protected,” she wrote.

Freeland’s response was criticized for using a passive voice, and failing to condemn Israel for the violence. Other countries have taken or signalled diplomatic action: Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador, Ireland and Belgium summoned Israeli envoys, and the UN human rights office called for an investigation into the bloodshed.

Monday was the deadliest day in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel. Most of the 59 protesters killed were shot, and more than 2,700 people were injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

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Israel said it was defending its border and accused Gaza’s Hamas rulers of using the protests as a cover for attacks on the border.

The protests at the Gaza border on Monday coincided with the opening of a new U.S. Embassy in contested Jerusalem, the fulfilment of a Donald Trump campaign promise and a move Palestinians condemned.

With files from the Associated Press

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