The Martlet

Simon Fraser University student Yotam Dar proudly held Israel’s flag on Jan. 10 at Victoria’s Inner Harbour and stood amid protesters rallying against the Israeli operation in Gaza.

He wasn’t alone. Half of the 200-strong crowd waved signs and sang hymns in support of Israel’s incursion into the Gaza strip that’s killed hundreds of Palestinians — many of them civilians.

Dar, an Israeli studying in Canada, said he wasn’t fazed by the protesters that were denouncing his homeland.

“It is important to realize that our struggle is not against the Palestinian people. It’s against Hamas, that took over Gaza in a military, violent and brutal coup against their own brothers and sisters,” Dar said. “People tend to say it’s like pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian. I don’t look at it like that at all. I look at it as pro-peace and pro-terrorism.”

Dar said that supporters of Israel were getting the message out that moderators and extremists exist on both sides and that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to an effort to eliminate extremists in Hamas.

Dar also stressed that Israeli forces were trying not to hurt civilians.

“The fact that Israel has better bomb shelters doesn’t mean the Palestinians are shooting less,” said Dar before pointing out that Hamas was entrenching itself within the civilian population.

“When Hamas militants are using women and children as human shields, what can Israel do?”

On the topic of children, Dar suggested that in the lead-up to the war in Gaza an empty kindergarten in southern Israel had been hit by rockets.

“Israel doesn’t need to apologize. [It] can protect its citizens,” he said.

Dar insisted Hamas couldn’t be a partner in peace, as the organization’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel.

“[Hamas is] not interested in a dialogue that will lead to a two-state solution,” said Dar. “The goal is to have two democratic states living in harmony, one by the other ... I want the Palestinians to be my neighbours.”

Meanwhile, speakers and microphones several feet away blared statistics on how many of those potential civilian neighbours had been killed so far.

Matt Loewen, a third-year UVic student and member of Students for a Democratic Society said that there couldn’t be peace if Israel continued to bomb schools and shoot medics — something he says has been documented. Loewen also said that Palestinian lives have been destroyed by living in what he calls an “open air prison” for decades.

“Kids are dying and Canada’s not doing anything about it,” said Loewen. “By coming out here I’m trying to help create a politicized base of citizens who can ... with a larger voice, [put] pressure on our government to put pressure on Israel by levying sanctions against them.”

However, Loewen wasn’t hopeful that the Canadian government would take a meaningful stance.

“If [Canada] speaks out against Israel then we’re not going to be able to do business with them,” he said. “Our politicians are looking at this with a dollar sign in front of their eyes.”

According to Loewen, the rally’s aim was to show disgust at what’s happening in Gaza and to use that disgust as a catalyst to educate the public about what’s going on. He encourages others to sign onto letters that can be found on the Amnesty International website and to write the Canadian government and the United Nations.

“Real Canadians — regardless of what our government might say — we actually care about other people. We care about the humanity and we reject the fact that apathy has become part of normal politics,” said Loewen. “Talk to other people about these issues because if people aren’t talking about these issues then they disappear.”

Second-year UVic student Nellie Salter stood near a sign that lamented the military action and said that as a Christian she felt like she might be on the wrong side of the protest, not supporting Israel. But the native of Summerland, B.C., reasoned that she would stand against Israel to support the anti-war stance and promote peace.

“I feel like I should be right in the middle of everyone, joining everyone together and sort of giving hugs all around, saying we’re on the same side — we’re all anti-war,” Salter said.

Salter thinks the focus needs to come back to Judaism’s peaceful teachings because that part of the religion has been trammelled by the task of protecting the Jewish homeland.

She also thinks things could change if both sides could find it within themselves to apologize to each other.

“At some point, someone’s got to be the bigger man,” said Salter. “I think it would take an incredible amount of maturity from both sides — just a swallowing of their pride. That would be revolutionary.”