Hundreds gather at pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian rallies in Halifax

People gathered at two Halifax rallies on Thanksgiving Monday to support Israelis and Palestinians amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Hundreds of people, holding signs and Israeli flags, were at Victoria Park Monday afternoon, for a rally organized by the Atlantic Jewish Council.

"A lot of people have family and friends who live in Israel, there's a large expatriate Israeli community here and the events that took place on our Sabbath and the last major Jewish holiday of the fall [was] just so horrific," said council president Mark David.

"One of the ways that we can show some support to our fellow Jews and others in Israel is by coming out and publicly affirming our solidarity with them."

After breaking through Israeli barriers with explosives at daybreak Saturday, Hamas gunmen shot civilians and snatched people in southern towns, along highways and at a techno music festival attended by thousands in the desert. Hamas also said it launched thousands of rockets into southern and central Israel.

In response, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a "complete siege" on Gaza, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel.

The war's death toll has risen to almost 1,600 people.

The violence has left members of the Jewish community in Halifax "devastated," David said, as they try to contact family members and loved ones abroad.

He said he, too, has family in Israel and while they're OK, events like this reverberate "throughout the diaspora."

Like David, Sylvia Mendleson also has family in Israel. Mendleson said her attendance at the rally was in support of the country where her son and two grandchildren live.

She called the events over the weekend "appalling" and said she's not sure when she'll be able to go on a planned trip to Tel Aviv to visit family.

"We are supposed to go, my husband and I, to Israel next month for a bar mitzvah," Mendleson said. "My grandson will be 13 years old in the middle of November and I hope we can get there and I hope he'll have a bar mitzvah."

Meanwhile, a rally in support of Palestinians took place on Monday at the Halifax waterfront, with hundreds attending.

One of them was Sarah Elnakhala, who has family living in the Palestinian territories. She said it's been difficult to be away from family while fighting wages in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

"I can't describe the feeling, that emptiness and loneliness," Elnakhala said. "It's amazing here in Canada, but at the end of the day, Palestine will always be our home, no matter what and where."

Another attendant at the Palestinian rally, Hanan Hammad, said she's saddened by the ongoing violence in the area.

"I feel sad. I feel hurt. I feel that those people, they have dignity," she said. "They have rights."