For two years now, those most affected by the genocide in Gaza have never stopped demonstrating. Yet, the images of these mobilizations often convey a sense of abandonment, revealing the lack of diversity that characterizes them. The Muslim community, the organizations in solidarity with Palestine, medical workers, students, and teachers from universities and some CEGEPs have admirably carried the mobilization against the genocide. But most have done so autonomously or in coordination, on the margins of institutional politics.

It is troubling to see that, while in other countries the Palestinian cause manages to bring together very diverse sectors—who see in the genocide of the Palestinian people not only a humanitarian tragedy but also a symbol of resistance to a profoundly unjust world order—, in Quebec and Canada, unions and progressive parties remain on the sidelines. Their response has been limited to a few symbolic statements and parliamentary initiatives with no real impact.

In countries like Italy, Spain, or Belgium, major unions and progressive parties have organized general strikes demanding the severance of relations with Israel. In the United States, the militarization of cities such as Seattle, Chicago, and Washington under the Trump administration provoked an unprecedented wave of civic resistance: mayors, members of Congress, and human rights organizations took the lead in defending their communities.

This contrast forces us to ask: why does Canada seem to remain a peaceful, almost indifferent country in the face of the Palestinian tragedy and the profound global upheavals it represents? Canada—and Quebec—are not mere spectators: they are actively participating in the construction of this new world order.

In Quebec, for example, the Minister of the Economy, Christine Fréchette, boasted on social media of her ambition to make the province a manufacturing power in the arms industry, by funding companies dedicated to military production. As if, in times of war, collective well-being depended on producing more weapons.

In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney unhesitatingly follows the directives imposed by Trump: deeper integration into military alliances, more restrictive laws on citizens’ communications, increasingly fortified borders equipped with advanced technology, and measures that curtail privacy while enabling the persecution of those who criticize the state.

While in much of the world the Palestinian cause unites, in Quebec and Canada it seems to disturb the political and union class—unable to break with the Zionist narrative emanating from the centers of power and to confront it openly, as is happening elsewhere.

Through their inaction, these organizations that claim to represent the working class leave the field open to the most reactionary and dangerous discourses in our society—fed by hatred and xenophobia—which are beginning to occupy public space. We already see it in the streets of Montreal, where Quebec flags mix with the Islamophobic and racist speeches of those waving Israeli flags.

Many of us are asking what it would take for the mobilizations that once filled the streets of Canada and Quebec against the war in Iraq to once again bring together all who live on this land under the banners of justice, peace, and reparation.

A dissident narrative can only be won when the streets speak with one voice, on a massive scale. Whether this happens depends on those who still hold the capacity, the resources, and the structures to make it possible. In any conflict, advantage or defeat is determined by the ability to build a coherent, just, and powerful narrative—one that those in power cannot ignore.

If, today, in the midst of an ultraconservative offensive, those who could stir up the streets choose not to rekindle the flame, in a few years there will be nothing left to defend, for everything will have been taken from us—even the right to breathe.

What do we propose?

From Palestine Vivra, we call on everyone to go beyond merely signing manifestos—necessary though they are—and to intervene in the political and social life of the cities where we live, by occupying the streets. We invite progressive parties, unions, and all communities committed to human rights and peace to take a step forward and carry the demands of the thousands who, across the country, demonstrate for a free Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
We call on them to place all their infrastructures at the service of a society where justice and human rights prevail over the economic interests of the powerful.

We observe that those who defend supremacism—whether white, ethnic, or religious—have not hesitated to support reactionary movements in our cities. Zionist and xenophobic organizations enjoy the complicity of conservative parties: they echo their demands, fund them, and amplify their discourse both in parliaments and in the streets.

If we abandon the streets to them and allow their xenophobic and racist policies to take hold—whether by action or by omission—we will be the next to be persecuted. Worse still, we will have contributed to building a society destructive to humanity and to our natural environment.

Those of us who have kept the streets alive for the past two years will continue to be there.
When others decide it is time, we will be there to welcome them.