All are invited to walk in silence through downtown Kelowna in solidarity with the people of Gaza, on Oct. 22.
The Okanagan chapter of the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East is organizing the walk, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the corner of St. Paul Street and Cawston Street.
At two locations during the walk, the group will stop to listen to words from Palestinian poets.
“We will be walking in solidarity with Palestinians,” said Debbie Hubbard, from the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
Canadians for Justice are asking that those who attend the walk, to wear dark colours and march in silence. There will be no chanting during the walk.
In 2014, Hubbard witnessed an attack on Gaza while working as a human rights observer. She said that seeing the impact of the destruction in Gaza inspired her to take action and support the Palestinian people.
On Oct. 7, an organization called Hamas, which the Canadian government considers to be a terrorist group, launched an attack on Israel from Gaza. The attack killed approximately 1,300 people, including six Canadians. An additional 200 people were taken by Hamas as hostages.
In response, Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip.
Israel has said it is attacking Hamas militants wherever they may be in Gaza, and accused the organization of taking shelter among the civilian population.
Approximately 4,000 people have been killed in the subsequent attacks.
The majority of the people killed in Gaza have been women, children and older adults, said the Gaza Health Ministry. Approximately 12,500 others have been injured, and an additional 1,300 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, said the health authority.
Israel has also blocked access to food, water, electricity and humanitarian aid for people in Gaza.
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Airstrikes have hit ‘safe zones’ in the south of Israel, where thousands of Palestinians are seeking refuge, after being told to evacuate by the Israeli government.
The vast majority of those who live in Gaza are Palestinian and have no place that they can flee to, as they are considered “stateless.”
Hamas, Palestinian militants and Islamic Jihad continue to fire missiles into Israel.
The Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East are calling for an immediate cease-fire in Israel and Gaza, and for humanitarian aid to be able to enter Gaza and help those impacted by the war.
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With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press