Car drives through pro-Palestinian rally in East Vancouver, police investigating
Posted November 3, 2023 12:03 pm.
Last Updated November 3, 2023 3:16 pm.
Vancouver police say they have launched an investigation after a car drove through a Palestinian solidarity rally Friday.
Video of the incident shared online shows several people trying to block the vehicle, with one person holding a bike in front of the car as it tries to get through the blocked intersection.
The car then turns to get around the individual, eventually driving straight down Clark Drive past Venables Street, narrowly missing demonstrators standing on the other side of the road.
“This was an impromptu protest,” the VPD said in a statement to CityNews.
“Several people had phoned police advising a group of people had made their way to the intersection of Clarke and Venables, blocking off all access to vehicles. VPD patrol officers and VPD Traffic Units quickly responded in order to facilitate a safe demonstration.
“As shown in the video, a car did drive through. Officers were able to locate the driver. The investigation is ongoing,” the VPD statement concluded.
Rally calls for end to violence
The protest shut the busy East Vancouver intersection for over an hour Friday morning.
People held up signs and chanted in solidarity with the Palestinian people, calling for a “free Palestine” and to “end the genocide” as a nearly month-long war rages on in the Middle Eastern region.
Omri Haiven, a member of Jews Against Genocide, says the rally Friday was aimed at demonstrating “the severity of the situation, the desperation of the situation, and the determination of Jews in North America” amid the ongoing violence.
“Today, Jews stood with Palestinians in solidarity for the bombings that are taking place by Israel. We are a group of Jews who say, ‘not in our name,’ to the massacres and the genocide that’s taking place in Palestine right now, in Gaza,” explained Haiven.
He says just under 100 people joined the rally Friday, with many echoing calls for a ceasefire.
The demonstrators said they were blocking the entrance to the Port of Vancouver. Haiven says the rally was “led by mostly young Jewish people.”
The rally came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip Friday, saying he will press ahead with a devastating military offensive until hostages held by the Hamas militant group are released.
Netanyahu spoke Friday shortly after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who pressed Israel for a temporary pause in its offensive in order to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Blinken also urged Israel to do more to protect civilians from its attacks.
In a statement to reporters Friday, Netanyahu said Israel is continuing with “all of its power” and “refuses a temporary cease-fire that doesn’t include a return of our hostages.”
Hamas kidnapped some 240 people in its Oct. 7 attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. The attack killed some 1,400 people, while over 9,000 people have been killed since Israel began striking Gaza the same day, according to Palestinian health officials.
Casualties on both sides are expected to rise as Israeli troops advance toward the dense residential neighborhoods of Gaza City. Israel has warned residents to immediately evacuate the Shati refugee camp, which borders Gaza City’s center.
However, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in the path of fighting in many areas of Gaza, despite Israel’s repeated calls for them to flee to safety, as they are unable to get across borders.
