Vigil held in Montreal to honour the children of Gaza

A vigil was held at Place des Festivals in downtown Montreal on Thursday night, in solidarity with the children of Gaza.

“They are our children, this is something that is going to impact all of our humanity, all of our human consciousness,” said Zahia Al Masri, of the Women’s Coalition for Palestine in Montreal, who was present at the vigil.

The group lit candles and wore black to express their sadness and anger over the death of thousands of children in Gaza over the last month – amid the Israel-Hamas war.

“This is outrageous and unacceptable. We need an immediate ceasefire to stop killing children is that so much to ask? We are asking our governments to stand up,” Al Masri said.

Women from different communities came together calling on world leaders to act.

“We are seeing lives being taken for reasons that are unacceptable, and we call upon the world leaders not only for a ceasefire but to provide peace, medical treatment, and mental health treatment to the people of Gaza and to stop bombing, not just an hour ceasefire, but to sit down and talk. I agree that the hostages should be released. I guess I can’t imagine a world where children are considered as combatants. This can’t be the world that we decide,” said Ellen Gabriel, also known as Katsi’tsakwas, an Indigenous human rights activist who was present at the vigil.

According to Save the Children – thousands of children have been killed and injured – amid the Israel-Hamas war, and the risk of them dying from their injuries has never been higher.

The UN reports that almost half of the hospitals in Gaza are no longer operational.

“My heart is bleeding, and we cannot let this pass. Every single day a lot of innocent children, women and men are being killed. Innocent people that are starving, have no water, no food, and no fuel, nothing, they have nothing and they are asked to walk thousands of miles south. They are going to be perished in the effort, that’s why I am here today, I’m here to show my support for all these innocent lives that are lost,” said Farida Mohamed.