Gaza rally in Penticton

Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Carolyn Kidd held a Gaza, West Bank rally, Friday

A rally for Gaza and West Bank to end the killing and occupation took place on Friday in Penticton.

The gathering at the corner of Main Street and Nanaimo Avenue was organized by resident Carolyn Kidd.

"My intention is this is the first of many rallies or gatherings to show support for the end of conflict in Palestine," she said."I fully support a self determination and statehood for Palestine as per the International Court of Justice."

The rally comes on the same day that the U.N. chief and the U.S. Secretary of State made a new attempt to nail down a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, as Israel's 18-day military occupation on the Gaza Strip fueled new unrest in the West Bank, where five Palestinians were killed during protests.

Kidd said she has been following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for many years, reading about it and listening to what journalists who are there are saying.

It was the recent conflict that triggered her taking public action, she said.

"There weren't any rallies or gatherings, so I decided this Monday to do something on Friday," she said. "I made posters and spread them around town, posted information on Facebook and talked to as many people as I could."

On Friday she was joined by friends and supporters, carrying signs with such messages as "no more killing, no more Israeli occupation," and "end the siege,' and said she was receiving positive feedback from passerbys.

"People are being encouraging and thanking me for being here," she said.

To learn more about Israel and Palestine, she urges people to watch Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein and Chris Hedges on You Tube and go to independent news sites such as democracy now.org. 

She further asks that people contact MP Dan Albas at (250) 770-4480, to let him know where they stand on the occupation.