Pro-Palestine car procession calls for a ceasefire

A large group of pro-Palestine protesters held another local rally Sunday afternoon, taking part in a rolling car procession through Windsor-Essex.

The group continued calls for an immediate ceasefire as war continues in the Middle East.

“What’s happening over there is beyond our comprehension,” said lead organizer Rasha Zaid with Windsor4Palestine.

“We just had lost family members [Sunday],” Zaid explained. “We are trying to instill awareness to the crowd by letting them know the Palestinian flag in silence. We’re driving around commanding and demanding a ceasefire take place.”

The procession began outside the former Sears store at Devonshire Mall and continued up Howard Avenue before travelling east along the Detroit River to Lakeshore.

“It’s been over 20 days now and the death toll has surpassed 8,000, with over 20,000 wounded with serious life disabilities,” Zaid explained.

Pro-Palestine protesters held another local rally on Oct. 29, 2023, taking part in a rolling car procession through Windsor-Essex. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

"It’s beyond unacceptable for what’s happening. We cannot justify this as humans. At this point, we want to be viewed as humans who stand for the right action, which is a ceasefire. If Canada is known for its peace stand, it’s time for Canada to prove its point to us,” said Zaid. “Our main goal is to demand a ceasefire. That’s our main goal and to lift the siege off the people that live in Gaza and to let the aid in.”

Last week, Canada’s government called for a humanitarian pause in the Isreal-Hamas war, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

The local Jewish community expressed concern, telling CTV News that many with ties to Israel fear a ceasefire would only open the door for another attack by Hamas.

Zaid said there will be more events to raise awareness while attacks continue in the Middle East.

“We will not stop until this is stopped. It will keep going, it’ll keep happening, we’ll have continuous events till this is [stopped]. Once it stops, we have an action [plan to spread education] to instill awareness into people to not have this forgotten because the over 8,000-plus that have lost their lives, they are not to be forgotten,” said Zaid.