A group of protesters held a rally outside the American embassy in Ottawa to counter the U.S. and Israeli-led wars in the Middle East. Many at the rally Wednesday evening were holding Palestinian and Lebanese flags to oppose the war in Iran and Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, while reiterating calls for a two-way arms embargo between Canada and Israel. Demonstrators were heard chanting “free, free Palestine” and ”stop the bombing, now, now, now.” Members of the Palestinian Youth Movement organized the “emergency protest” in support of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran one day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 14-day ceasefire agreement had been reached with the Iranian government. “The individuals back home are our families. They’re our family members who are getting killed, who are getting to live under intense bombardment from Israel and the U.S. and so we have an opportunity to stop it by enacting an arms embargo. That’s our simple demand,” said Mohamad Mansour, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement. Participants of the rally also urged the Canadian government not to get involved in the conflict. Prime Minister Mark Carney has suggested helping to secure navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, but said Canada would not take part in the conflict. “We feel the need to be on the streets is to protest against this injustice to this world that we’re seeing right now. This isn’t the world we want to live in,” Mansour said. Iranian officials have maintained that the ceasefire deal was supposed to include Lebanon, while Israel and the U.S. have insisted that it does not. The ceasefire remains in doubt after Iran signalled it would keep the Straight of Hormuz closed unless Israel agreed to stop its attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Israel intensified its attacks in Lebanon Wednesday, hitting commercial and residential areas in Beirut. At least 182 people were killed in the deadliest day of fighting there. In response to the attacks on Lebanon, Iran later Wednesday said it will once again halt the movement of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s state-run media reported. With files from The Associated Press and Shaun Vardon
