Adedokun Waliyu 
A ceremony to mark Israel’s Independence Day in Ottawa today will be a private event, city officials say.
In a statement, the city said it’s agreed to allow the Jewish Federation of Ottawa to hold a ceremony but did not give details about where or when it will be.
By 10 a.m. more than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered at steel barricades erected on Marion Dewar Plaza outside city hall, waving flags and signs, banging drums and holding a banner that said “All Eyes on Gaza.”
They were watched by more than a dozen Ottawa police officers and city security staff, while a drone hovered overhead. More police and security officers were stationed inside city hall.
As a light drizzle fell, demonstrators chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will soon be free” and “Judaism yes, Zionism no, the state of Israel must go.”
pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered at steel barricades erected on Marion Dewar Plaza outside city hall, waving flags and signs, banging drums and holding a banner that said “All Eyes on Gaza.”
They were watched by more than a dozen Ottawa police officers and city security staff, while a drone hovered overhead. More police and security officers were stationed inside city hall.
As a light drizzle fell, demonstrators chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will soon be free” and “Judaism yes, Zionism no, the state of Israel must go.”
One demonstrator’s sign likened the blue and white flag of Israel, which had been raised earlier in the day outside city hall, to the flag of Nazi Germany.
“Globalize the Intifada” was another of the crowd’s chants, and also a demand to “take us back to ’48,” meaning before the State of Israel was created on May 14, 1948.
The city had originally cancelled the ceremony earlier this month because of security concerns due to the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
However, Mayor Sutcliffe said in a statement Friday he had asked the police chief, city staff and members of Ottawa’s Jewish community to come up with a plan to commemorate the day “while protecting the security and safety of everyone involved.”
Since 2007, the city, in conjunction with Global Affairs Canada, has raised the flags of more than 190 nations with which Canada has diplomatic relations to mark their national days of celebration or independence. Because of the ongoing conflict and the protests it has brought, the city has said would fly Israel’s flag, but there wouldn’t be the usual public ceremony accompanying it.
The war began on Oct. 7 with Hamas’ surprise attack into southern Israel, in which it killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage. Israel says Hamas is still holding some 100 captives and the remains of more than 30 others after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.
