Windsor4Palestine supporters hold demonstration to call for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war

The Israel-Hamas war was the focus of another demonstration in Windsor on Wednesday.

Supporters of Windsor4Palestine held a die-in and a march at Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk's office at 9733 Tecumseh Road East.

In particular, supporters wanted to highlight what they view as the federal government's complicity in war crimes being committed and to call for more politicians to support a ceasefire.

Israel declared war against Hamas after the October 7 attacks, in which more than 1,400 Israelis were killed and 222 taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.

Israel has since responded with force, showering Gaza with rockets and in recent days launching a ground offensive. 

More than 8,300 Palestinians have been killed in the days since, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Organizer Rasha Zaid says they want to keep bringing attention to the violence in the Gaza, and are calling on MPs to get behind the effort to stop the indiscriminate killing.

"So it's just a way to tell them that we, as Canadians, are not with what's happening. And we're not with what's been happening as Canadians because we're known for our peaceful stand, and the fact that we're so silent towards it. It's not really taking the peaceful stand that we're known for," she said.

Kusmierczyk is one of the more than 30 MPs who signed a letter written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling on him to advocate for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Zaid says that's not enough, considering there's 338 members of parliament in Ottawa.

"It's a shame that the number is so low considering how much cruelty has been happening to the kids there, most of the people dying [in Gaza] are kids. So the fact that we only have 33, we as people that live in Windsor have to stand and show our MPs that even though you did sign it: it's not enough. We need more MPs to be on board to make this stop."

Recent opinion polls in Canada and the United States have shown more and more people calling for a ceasefire, though the federal government has continued to push for "humanitarian pauses" during the ongoing conflict.

Zaid says that's another major reason behind their events, that the people are saying to stop the killing but the government aren't standing behind that view.

"Because usually we're under the impression that our voices are being heard all the time. So the fact that so many people went out in Toronto, Ottawa, here. Constantly, nonstop, persistently and no action is taken to stop it just makes us feel as Canadians that we're not as heard as we think we are. And it's just devastating to be honest," she stated.

On top of calls for an immediate ceasefire, organizers and supporters were also calling for humanitarian aid to Gaza, an end to the blockade of Gaza, and for Canada to stop sending weapons to Israel, among other things.

Signs calling for a ceasefire on MP Kusmierczyk's office (Photo taken by AM800's Aaron Mahoney)

- with files from CTV News