About 20 protesters began blocking the Canadian National Railway line in downtown Winnipeg on Monday in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
A small group of protesters was seen standing on the CN rail line near Main Street and York Avenue in Forks on Monday afternoon, with a larger group on the street below.
Protesters carried Palestinian flags and signs reading “ceasefire now” and “Palestine will never die.”
“We’re calling for a ceasefire,” protester Dasha Plett told Breaking:.
Plett says the group targeted the rail line because CN has business ties with one of Israel’s largest shipping companies, ZIM.
“CN is very vital for them to access the North American market and it is an Israeli company,” he said.
A CN spokesperson told Breaking: the company is aware of the situation and is monitoring it.
Some 240 hostages were taken during a deadly cross-border attack into Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, prompting Israel to invade the small Palestinian territory to end the Islamist movement after several inconclusive wars since 2007.
Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. including several Canadians, were killed in the Hamas attack, according to Israeli counts, the deadliest day in Israel’s 75-year history. Since then, the Hamas-led Gaza government said at least 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 5,500 children, by relentless Israeli bombing.
Plett says the blockade of the CN rail line in Winnipeg is “answering the call of Palestinian organizations to disrupt politicians, businesses, organizations and infrastructure” that support Israel.
Winnipeg police have been notified, Plett said, but the group is “staying quiet.” He would not comment on how long the group plans to stay.
“We are arguing that we can be here thanks to a public meeting, and that that is a superior form of law than those that threaten us.”
Breaking: observed two police officers speaking with members of the rail line protest shortly after speaking with Plett on Monday afternoon. Winnipeg police have not yet responded to a request for comment.
