"Peace" March?

Yesterday afternoon Rick and I joined our friends Leigh and Shane in attending the anti-war protest in Toronto. I admit that I had virtually no information on the rally when invited to go - all I know is that I think the violence in the Middle East needs to end, and I was up for going out to support that. (Not to mention that it was a great opportunity to rally against Bush's and Harper's foreign policy.) As a CUPE rep, Leigh was there on behalf of the union. However, I didn't fully understand why the union had gotten "hate mail" for supporting the rally until we got there.

The demonstration began at the Israeli Consulate downtown and was primarily composed of people of Palestinian and Lebanese origin who were passionate about getting Israel out of Lebanon, abolishing the apartheid in Israel, and getting Canada and the US out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Appearances were also made by Six Nations reps who are part of the standoff at Turtle Island, which was cool - the oppression of indigenous peoples on a global scale is at the root of many of these issues. While there were some really amazing and inspiring speakers, particularly reps from the Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation, Trade Unionists Against the War, and The Canadian Peace Alliance, some of the speakers there did anything but create a feeling of solidarity amongst those present.

While the speakers themselves were from diverse groups and did a good job representing the wide variety of people opposed to the war, a few represented opinions that I would not consider to be "peaceful". For instance, some of the organisers dutifully kept us apprised of the number of Israeli tanks and helicopters that had been annihilated during the time we had gathered for the march, along with how many Israeli soldiers had just been killed: such announcements were met with cheers and celebration from some members of the audience. We also learned through the Star this morning that three Israeli flags had been burned en route, although none of the people in our little group witnessed that sort of behaviour. No wonder union members had been critical of CUPE's support when such overtly anti-Semitic sentiment was present! It made all of us feel uncomfortable.

The march ended when we arrived at the US Consulate (after more speakers, of course). Curiously, while there were few police present at the Israeli consulate and along the peace march route downtown, there were police all over the square by the US Consulate. And not only were they there, but they were there in full riot gear! There were even some officers stationed on top of nearby buildings. My only question after standing and walking in the hot afternoon sun for 3 hours on asphalt that seemed to compress the joints in my legs and back more painfully every minute was "where the hell are people going to get the energy to riot?!?" All I wanted by that point was a large pint of cold beer.

In the end, I'm glad I went to the march to support peace (for everyone!) and to form my own opinion about what went on there, rather than just hearing about flag-burning through the media. While I was glad to see such a diverse number of groups coming together against the atrocities happening in the Middle East, I wonder what kind of future such a movement has when the opinions and actions of some groups serve to alienate other participants, and when these other groups prove to not be radical enough for some. That said, expecting a homogenous stance from a group that has come together to fight oppression and violence in so many different contexts would be highly unrealistic. I think we can only hope that people eventually start to realise violence is not a good solution to anything.