Protesters rally for 'Peace'
Peace seems to have several faces in the Middle East.
Thousands chant for peace in front of the Israeli consulate, both pro-Israelis and pro-Lebanese, but both ask for entirely different things.
A pro-'peace' rally took place in front of the Israeli consulate in Toronto on August 12, including both pro-Israeli as well as pro-Lebanese protesters, but somehow the message remained the same: 'We want peace.'
"We all say we want peace, but that word doesn't really mean much, because it can mean very different things. If we have the same rhetoric, then we need to find a better way to express ourselves to word whatever it is that we want," said Lindsey, a member of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.
More than 10,000 marchers showed up for the pro-Lebanese rally, a crowd that marched from the Israeli consulate to the American consulate, but there was also a group of nearly 40 pro-Israeli protesters as well, holding Israeli flags and anti-Hezbollah and anti-radical Islam signs.
As pro-Lebanon protesters sang nationalistic Lebanese chants for Beirut, the counter-rally by the anti-Hezbollah rioters shouted out 'Shame on you.'
While both sides addressed the need for peace, both were quite drastically different in their approach to attain such peace in the Middle East. Animosities on both sides seemed quite intense and police kept the two crowds at a significant distance to deter any possibility of violence or trouble.
"Just look at the signs. We are here for peace, we are here for democracy. They are here for death and genocide. This war is one front on the war on terrorism," said Jonathan Samuel, a protester holding an anti-Hezbollah sign.
But Ritch Whyman, a pro-Lebanon protester, who is also a member of the International Socialist, saw things quite differently than Samuel did. He questioned Stephen Harper's minority government's decision to back Israel and questioned the commitment the U.S. had for democracy in the Middle East.
"Anyone who wants a serious look into who started this, they will come to the understanding that Israel is the aggressor in this one, and that what is happening in Lebanon and Gaza, it is just humanitarian horror and it is state terrorism by Israel, which is of course backed by the U.S. that is sending them bunker-buster uranium bombs," he said.
"Harper is George Bush in Canada, we must remember who Harper is and that is why he is defending Israel's right to 'self-defense.' But I defend the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples' right to self-defense," he said.
Whyman laughed at the Israeli argument of self-defense in this war and said if anyone is defending itself, it is Lebanon, not Israel.
"Israeli's say they are engaged in self-defense because they stole land, and usually when people steal things, they like to keep them and that is what Israel is all about. Palestinians have democratic elections and the U.S. and Israel say we do not respect that government. So now the whole world knows, the U.S. is not about democracy, it is all about its own power, and that is what this whole war on the Lebanese people is all about."
Other than differences about the means to achieve peace and who was engaged in self-defense, there was also a strong feeling among both groups in claiming victory.
"Israel has won the war, there is no doubt about that, but the war will go on until all the terrorists and all the radical Islamists will be freed of their own punishment," Samuel said.
But Zafar Bangash, a speaker at the rally and member of the Muslim Unity Group said there was no doubt about Hezbollah's win in the war and no doubt about who actually wanted to achieve peace in the region. Bangash said it was actually Israel that did not want to live in peace, but clarified the fact that it had nothing to do with the values of the Jewish people, but rather with the political Zionist ideology that rules the state.
"There are several Jews here today that are against the state. We have absolutely no quarrel with the Jewish people. It is the Zionist ideology that does not recognize other peoples' rights to exist. But in terms of the win in this war, there is no doubt that Hezbollah won this war, this victory is for the Arabs and it is the first time a force was able to fight against Israel for longer than a week. There is no doubt about Hezbollah's win."
