Demonstrations supporting the Palestinians of Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire continue across Canada.

In the city of London, Ontario, last Saturday the Canadian Palestinian Social Association (The Canadian Palestinian Social Association - CPSA) organized a human chain in which a few dozen people participated in front of Victoria Hospital.

The participants wore blue plastic aprons similar to those worn by doctors and nurses in hospitals, on which slogans were written in English with marker pens such as ''Gaza has no hospitals'' or ''Send aid to Gaza''.

The participants carried Palestinian flags and signs calling for a ceasefire and others for ''ending the occupation'' or ''stopping the genocide'', among other slogans they also chanted.

This demonstration was organized about four months after an attack carried out by the Palestinian Hamas movement inside Israel on October 7, last year, resulting in the death of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 240 others, according to Israeli statistics.

The Israeli response toll rose to more than 27,000 deaths in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to health officials in the Hamas movement which governs the Gaza Strip.

Nihal Al-Tarhoni, president of the Canadian Palestinian Social Association in London, Ontario, which was founded in the 1990s, confirmed that ''the association’s activities are diverse, including social and political ones to represent the Palestinian community in Canada through contacting MPs or helping new refugees.'' However, since October 7, the association has focused its activities on what is happening in Gaza.

She confirmed that her association has not stopped communicating with politicians such as the mayor of London, Ontario, Josh Morgan, who described the pro-Gaza Palestinians demonstrations following the events of October 7 as ''unlicensed'' in his city.

The association had a meeting with the mayor, like other associations. ''We informed the political community that your encouragement of Israel’s absolute right to defend itself without oversight or respect for international laws will create problems here [in Canada] and in Gaza,'' said Nihal Al-Tarhoni.

She says that this support has resulted in racism against Palestinians and Muslims in London. ''Personally, I was accused through messages at my workplace of supporting terrorism because I appeared on television screens to explain what is happening,'' added this dentist born to Palestinian parents.

She said the mayor then issued another statement clarifying that ''his responsibility is to represent all London residents regardless of their nationality or religion.''

Indeed, Mayor Josh Morgan said on ''X'' (formerly Twitter): ''We have the ability and responsibility to ensure peaceful coexistence without fear for all residents of London.''

He added that he has witnessed ''incidents of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and hatred against Palestinians.

My call to all London residents is simply to support each other. Members of our Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, and Muslim communities at large are suffering, and we must do our best to ease this pain, show empathy, and promote peace and calm in our city.''

Areej Obeid, one of the participants in the human chain, said she joined the demonstration because ''it is a matter of human rights. You don’t have to be Palestinian.''

For her, ''what is happening in Gaza is injustice. For four months, we have been watching the killing of Gaza’s inhabitants. This is genocide. It is shameful that Western governments give Israel a free pass to do whatever it wants.''

She lamented the silence of some of her Canadian friends ''about what is happening in Gaza. Some of them stopped talking to me,'' said this teacher in London schools, born to Palestinian parents from Gaza. Her father lives in Gaza and holds Canadian citizenship.

Her brother, Fadi Obeid, explained that ''the last time we met our father was four years ago when he visited us in Canada.''

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the brother and sister have been trying to help their father leave Gaza and come to Canada in cooperation with Canadian authorities but to no avail.

Fadi Obeid is calling on the Canadian government to intervene with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities to allow his father to exit through the Rafah border crossing.