Small turnout (11:30 am), mostly chants. One segment needed to be amplified due to issues with the wireless microphone transmitter losing power at random.
00:00It's not wrong, it's illegal under both Canadian and international law.
00:08But it's still happening.
00:10That's why we're calling on the Real Estate Council of Ontario to step in.
00:14Investigate, hold people accountable, warn the public.
00:19Ontarians deserve to know if they're being sold illegal property.
00:23As Nakba day approaches, we remember a tragedy that didn't end in 1948.
00:29It's still happening today.
00:31The Nakba continues in new forms every day.
00:34But remembering isn't enough.
00:37We remember so we can act.
00:39We remember to defend something no one should lose.
00:42The right to a home.
00:45Ontario must stop helping push people out of their homes and start living up to its values.
00:51As a Canadian, we must live up to our values of justice, human rights and the rule of law.
00:57Because a home isn't just where we live.
01:00It's something we must fight to protect.
01:03And international law.
01:05Over the past 19 months, as Israel continues its campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing
01:11against the Palestinian people across their homeland, these illegal sales have been repeatedly hosted in synagogues.
01:19Most notably and publicly, in March 2024, several events were held in synagogues in Thornhill that marketed real estate in both Gaza and the West Bank.
01:30Shame.
01:31Shame.
01:32Shame.
01:33When these abhorrent sales were objected to by community members, they were met with violence from Zionists and politicians seeking bylaws to prevent us from protesting.
01:42These bylaws passed in Vaughan and are now being sought to be enacted elsewhere in Toronto.
01:47This tactic of hosting illegal events in synagogues makes protests challenging as holding these events in places of worship is calculated to deflect public scrutiny and to silence dissent.
02:02Shame.
02:03Shame.
02:04Shame.
02:05The properties being sold include land in the West Bank and Gaza, areas currently undergoing ethnic cleansing and are now being advertised as luxury beachfront real estate for the Zionist settler colonial project.
02:18Shame.
02:19Shame.
02:20Shame.
02:21Shame.
02:22Shame.
02:23Shame.
02:24Ontario politicians.
02:25They are complicit and they are helping sell land that is being ethnically cleansed.
02:29Shame.
02:30Shame.
02:31Shame.
02:32Canadians are being misled by advertisements promoting the illegal purchase of stolen Palestinian land.
02:39These ads market so-called luxury properties, but in reality, they are promoting investments in occupied territory.
02:47This is illegal under international law, specifically the fourth Geneva Convention, to which Canada is supposed to uphold.
02:55Anyone who invests in these properties becomes directly complicit in the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime.
03:02Simply put, what's being sold are homes in settler colonies, which is an unmistakable violation of international law.
03:11To explicitly prohibit the marketing of real estate in occupied territories.
03:17Sponsor a public consumer warning under the Consumer Protection Act of 2002.
03:22Direct the Real Estate Council of Ontario to investigate unethical brokers selling stolen Palestinian land.
03:29And hold the provincial government accountable to their duties under international law and Ontario's mandates.
03:35We also continue to call on the federal government of Canada to enact a full, complete and immediate two-ways arms embargo on Israel now.
03:46There is absolutely no justification for any elected official to refuse support for our demands.
03:55What we are calling for is simply the bare minimum. Adherence to both Canadian and international law.
04:01When an elected official chooses not to support these demands, or worse, actively oppose them, they will not just be ignoring public will.
04:09They will be undermining the very legal and ethical responsibilities they were elected to uphold.
04:14Supporting our position is not a matter of political preference, it is a matter of legal duty and moral integrity.
04:21So that every single elected official in this building hears us and hears us clearly.
04:27We are coming in numbers to demand an end to the sale of illegally stolen Palestinian land.
04:35Shame!
04:36Shame!
04:37So let's hear it.
04:38I have been witnessing the full annexation of the West Bank.
04:42Shame!
04:43Shame!
04:44A move that has been long deemed illegal under international law, but yet international community stands by silent unless Israel act with impunity.
04:58Shame!
04:59Shame!
05:00Shame!
05:01From the cities of Janine until Kareem alone, there has been over 80,000 people displaced, flooding their homes with no place to stay.
05:10Some are staying in mosques, some are staying by the rivers and makeshift tents.
05:15Shame!
05:16Shame!
05:17Shame!
05:18We have allowed Israel to act with impunity for far too long.
05:24Shame!
05:25And our politicians, our lovely MPs, MPPs must take a stand.
05:30They must hold up international law.
05:33They must hold up Canadian law.
05:35And they must condemn the illegal sale of Palestinian land in the West Bank and in Gaza.
05:42Shame!
05:43Shame!
05:44We the people will continue to advocate for the people of Gaza who amongst all odds have undergone a 19 month long genocide and still resilient, still fighting on their land, refusing to leave, refusing to bow down to the enemy.
06:02The people of the West Bank are the same, still resisting, never bowing down because the land knows its honor and that's the Palestinian people.
06:12The Palestinian people must come to an end.
06:19It is enough.
06:24The Palestinian people in Gaza, the Palestinian people in the West Bank, the people in Lebanon, the people in Yemen, the people in Syria, it is enough.
06:35Israel has acted with impunity for far too long.
06:42Shame!
06:43Shame!
06:44The West Bank and its citizens deserve to live free from the shackles of occupation, from the shackles of imperialism, from the shackles of apartheid.
06:54The segregation that has been implemented and imposed on the Palestinian people of the West Bank must come to an end.
07:06Shame!
07:07Shame!
07:08We are seeing the effects of the ongoing Nakba that took by in silence.
07:15We will not do this and we need to show up every single time.
07:20When Gaza calls, we answer.
07:23When Gaza calls, we answer.
07:27We will our elected officials hear our demands and answer them.
07:31Is that right?
07:32Yes!
07:33The illegal sale of stolen Palestinian land has been going on since the Nakba.
07:43But recently, the Zionists have become emboldened.
07:47They have done public, public sales of stolen Palestinian land, including land in Gaza that as we speak is being ethnically cleansed.
07:58And they are promoting this as luxury beachfront apartments.
08:02This is shameful.
08:03Shame!
08:04And unfortunately, due to politicians being complicit, there have been politicians who are enacting bubble bylaws to prevent us from protesting these sales.
08:17Shame!
08:18Shame!
08:19We are grateful to any elected official who stands with the people, stands with the demands, and stands on the right side of history.
08:27Use your voices.
08:28Because despite everything, the people in Palestine remain steadfast and so will we, insha'Allah.
08:35Big round of applause for all yourselves, please.
08:43The reason we came out today is very clear.
08:46Ontario must stop being complicit in the sale of stolen Palestinian land.
08:54We are here!
08:55We are here!
08:56We are here!
08:57We are here!
08:58There is a very clear demand that we came here today, while our Ontario MPPs are holding sessions, to hold them accountable.
09:01To make them see that the power of the people that are here, the power of the people that have been taking the streets for the past 19 months, will not stop as long as Palestine is occupied.
09:15As long as the Palestinian people continue to suffer, as long as justice, freedom, and liberation for the Palestinian people isn't obtained, we will continue to come out and pressure everyone who is responsible.
09:32The people that come out and stand in solidarity with us, we want to thank them, but we need results.
09:42We need our demands to be raised.
09:45We need our demands to be raised in the House of Parliament.
09:52We will not stop.
09:57We will not stop.
09:58This is only the beginning.
09:59We will continue to keep coming out here, at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, as long as they keep holding these sessions.
10:07Because the Palestinian people in Gaza, in the West Bank, continue to suffer.
10:13So, our job is far from over.
10:17And today is only the beginning.
10:20They will be holding sessions in June again and in September again.
10:25If our demands are not raised in Parliament, if our demands are not being answered,
10:32we will continue to keep coming out and pressuring and holding these people accountable.
10:42And lastly, the power always resides with the people.
10:47Change doesn't come from the top.
10:50It comes from all of us here who sacrificed their time today to come and support the Palestinian people.
