Documenting struggle: Activists reflect on genocide in Palestine [video]

The Gaza ceasefire that came into effect in January brought scenes of joy and celebration, as Palestinians and Israelis welcomed the return of family members. 

It was a stark contrast to the daily bombardments that killed more than 46,000 Gazans over the course of 15 months — and which has now resumed as Israel broke the ceasefire with airstrikes last week. 

Here in Saint John, also known as Menahkwesk, activists held weekly rallies for more than a year, demanding a ceasefire and an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. 

In the immediate wake of the ceasefire in January, the NB Media Co-op spoke to several of those activists, who shared their thoughts. We are publishing these interviews now with video as part of our efforts to document the Free Palestine movement in New Brunswick. 

“We just cried when we heard the news,” said Lina Gharbiya, a Canadian-Palestinian who has lived in Saint John for more than 30 years. “We couldn’t believe it. It was really happening.”

She described a conversation with one of her uncles, a doctor in Gaza. “I’m sure he has seen way more than my other uncles and cousins,” Gharbiya said. “I have never ever seen him cry. He was crying and crying and he couldn’t talk.”

Gharbiya said the Canadian government should have pushed for a ceasefire from the start of the war. She described her family members in Gaza as “exhausted” and “terrified.” 

“People forget that they’re humans,” she said. “They’re just innocent people, innocent civilians…and the collective punishment that has happened — it’s just huge disbelief.” 

She said that many of her cousins have lost their homes, and that some of her family members, including second cousins, have been killed. 

“But at the end of the day we’re hopeful, they’re hopeful,” she said. “They’re not even talking about any political agenda. They’re only talking about how nice it is that they’re going to be able to sleep without the sound of explosions and fearing that it is our turn, or who’s next.“ 

She said an end to the violence will benefit both sides. “Violence, injustice and apartheid like this is just not [going to] work,” she said. “It never works; it never will.”

A ceasefire is crucial, but more steps will be needed, said Sarah Zallum, one of the main organisers of local Free Palestine rallies and other events

“We have to lift the siege, we have to lift the occupation,” Zallum said, referencing Israel’s longstanding blockade of the Gaza Strip and its occupation of the West Bank.  

“Of course we’ll be happy that the bombs aren’t dropping in Gaza, that they are allowing trucks to go in with aid,” said Zallum, a Cree-Palestinian who came to Saint John from Alberta 18 years ago. “It’s really a time to breathe, a time to mourn.” 

But she also expressed skepticism about Israel’s goals. “What they tell us is usually not what they are planning… they continue with their hidden agendas.”

She called for more transparency about Canadian involvement in Israel’s military campaign, which has been condemned as genocidal by groups such as Amnesty International. 

“There are so many levels that are investing in these crimes against the Palestinians,” Zallum said. “And we have the right to know. They use our tax dollars to fund this in many different ways.” 

Uptown resident Malvina Slavata said she wouldn’t celebrate until she saw evidence that violence had actually ended. “The violence hasn’t stopped, it’s just shifting from place to place,” she said. “It’s just colonial violence.” 

Slavata called for a total arms embargo affecting not only Israel but all countries. “If we stop selling weapons, building these weapons, and greedy men stop profiting all this war-mongering and all this killing,” she said. “That’s the only way we’re gonna stop it. We need an arms embargo, now.”

Slavata said the situation in Palestine has “opened the hearts of millions of people, maybe even billions of people.” She said she hopes those people “keep learning,” and that eventually it would lead to “an end to all the violence.” 

“Because in this day of age there’s no need for it. There’s enough for everybody. There’s enough food, water, land…there’s no need for violence,” she said.  

The first part of the three-stage ceasefire was to exchange 33 Israeli hostages for 1900 Palestinian prisoners as Israeli troops pulled back from populated areas to Gaza’s borders, allowing more aid to enter and displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.

According to last year’s report by Israeli leading human rights organisation, B’Tselem, “In early July 2024, there were 9,623 Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, 4,781 of whom were detained without trial, without being presented with the allegations against them, and without access to the right to defend themselves”.

The first stage of ceasefire was meant to lay the foundation for a second stage, seeking to establish a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, as well as further exchange of remaining living hostages in Gaza for more Palestinian prisoners.

The final third stage of the ceasefire would have started the multi-year construction of Gaza and the return of all remaining bodies of dead hostages.

A total of 251 hostages were captured by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during the October 7 attack that, according to official toll, caused 1,139 Israeli casualties, setting the scene for 15 month-long full scale Israeli assault in Gaza.

“It’s almost like a pressure cooker.” explained Gharbiya about the fateful Palestinian rebellion.

“Because, again, oppression, injustice, systematic racism…Using your power in an unjust way, inhuman way, and differentiating between people, like some people have human rights but the others don’t deserve it, it could be because of religion, race, language, whatever it is. When you start going through that path… it’s not going to end well.” 

Data Brainanta is a recent newcomer to Turtle Island from Indonesia who writes for the NB Media Co-op. Video editing by David Gordon Koch, NB Media Co-op staff reporter. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).