Winnipegger heartbroken after touring devastation in West Bank

Ramsey Zeid returned to Winnipeg on Saturday morning, but his thoughts remained with the devastation he witnessed in the Middle East earlier in the week.

Zeid, who is president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba, went on a six-day trip to Jordan and the West Bank with other members of the Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations and five Canadian MPs.

Although exhausted from his whirlwind week overseas, he said he was heartbroken by the destruction he saw that was inflicted by Israeli military forces, especially in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

"They ripped up roads. They blew up homes. They blew up water tanks on top of houses," Zeid said Saturday at the start of a pro-Palestinian rally that started in the parking lot at CF Polo Park.

"We saw a lot of heartbreaking things, some really overwhelming things — stuff that we kind of expected — but not to that extent."

In addition to Jenin and the refugee camp there, Zeid also visited Ramallah and East Jerusalem, as well as other refugee camps in Hebron and Jarosh, which are all located in the West Bank. 

He said the attacks on Palestinian-occupied territories of the West Bank were very apparent and saddening. 

"It's one thing to see it on social media and one thing to read about it. When you see it first-hand, up close and personal, it's different," he said.

Zeid said the rally, which made its way to the intersection of Main Street and Broadway, before moving southeast to the intersection at St. Mary's Road and Bishop Grandin Boulevard, was critical as a way to speak up for Palestinians in the war-torn areas.

"The Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza don't have a voice, and we need to be their voice. So we're going to step up our fight here in Canada," he said.

'I've been traumatized,' Palestinian supporter says

The health ministry in Gaza estimates that more than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed since the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing approximately 1,200 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has identified three goals for Israel's military operation in Gaza.

"The elimination of Hamas, the return of all our hostages and the guarantee that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel," he said Saturday in a news conference.  

Israel claims they have killed in excess of 9,000 Hamas operatives and fighters, a figure which includes roughly 1,800 militants who crossed into Israel as part of the Oct. 7 attacks.

Aneeta Rehman has been following the situation in the Middle East since October. She was part of Saturday's pro-Palestinian rally and said it's been difficult for her to read and hear about the atrocities.

"I've been traumatized. I've been actually crying a lot," she said.

Born in Pakistan, Rehman said the fighting and dying in Gaza and the West Bank has negatively affected her trust in humanity.

"It has impacted me in the sense that I don't trust in western civilization, human rights and people who preach that they are not racist," she said.

Pushing for peace 

Andrew Loewen also took part in the rally. He was there representing Labour for Palestine Winnipeg, the local chapter of a trans-national organization of labour activists working in solidarity with Palestinian trade unions and Palestinian people.

Loewen is advocating for liberation for Palestinians, and he'd like to see an immediate ceasefire, as well as self-determination for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

He called what's happening in Gaza a genocide.

"We're here to walk hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder with anyone who wants peace and justice," Loewen said.

Peace is also what Zeid would like to see, but he said that will only happen if government bodies are pressured into making changes for the betterment of Palestinians.

"Our governments have to be held accountable. They're the ones that need to be pushed," he said.

Zeid remains hopeful, but he said hope isn't what he saw on his trip.

"The people, you can see it in their eyes," he said. "They're waiting for the day that it's the end for them. They know it's coming, they just don't know when."