Antiwar protesters call for inquiry into Canadian arms trade amid Israel-Hamas war
CTV
Protesters blocked traffic outside a major military industry trade show in Ottawa Wednesday morning before moving on to Parliament Hill to condemn the ongoing violence in Gaza and Canada's arms trade with Israel.
Antiwar protesters moved from Parliament Hill to Ottawa Police Headquarters Wednesday afternoon to protest arrests following a day of demonstrations in Ottawa, including outside a major military industry trade show and on Parliament Hill.
Sarah Abdul-Karim, of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said the protest outside police headquarters came after a demonstrator was arrested on Wellington Street as police officers removed protesters from the street, which she described as "brutal" and involving the use of batons.
"We're out here today demanding their release," she said. "We know that the police actively suppress our protests, consistently."
Earlier, a post on X, formerly Twitter, said a "police operation" was underway to remove protesters from the road. Police have not provided any other information since then.
World Beyond War Canada (WBW) organized the Wednesday morning protest outside the EY Centre, which is hosting the annual CANSEC conference, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) annual trade show. While CANSEC has faced protests before, this demonstration comes amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and just days after an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah set fire to a camp housing displaced Palestinians, killing at least 45 people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "tragic mistake."
"The protest was planned to condemn war profiteering in solidarity with Palestinians and people in conflict zones all around the world who have been killed, displaced, and maimed by the weapons being peddled and sold at CANSEC," a news release from WBW said. "The arms manufacturers exhibiting at CANSEC have raked in record profits from the military violence that has brought misery to millions this year – from Palestine to Sudan, from the Congo to Ukraine, from Afghanistan and West Papua to Ethiopia."
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