Parti Québécois MNA Daniel Turp and Bloc Québécois MP Réal Ménard led a demonstration in downtown Montreal last weekend denouncing Israel’s “illegal occupation” of Palestinian land and its practice of “apartheid.”

The coalition that organized the event, led by the major labour federations, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux and the Centrale des syndicats du Québec, also called on the Canadian government to revoke the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund. The coalition charges that the JNF discriminates against non-Jews in its allocation of land and is dispossessing Palestinians.

Turp is the PQ’s spokesperson for international affairs and Ménard is the co-chair, with Liberal Quebec Senator Lucie Pépin, of a new parliamentary association for Palestine. They walked in the front row of the noisy demonstrators as they marched from Dorchester Square, which is across the street from the Israeli consulate, along busy St. Catherine Street to Complexe Guy-Favreau, a federal building.

One man in front held a Hezbollah flag in his hand.

The approximately 1,000 marchers stopped in front of the Indigo bookstore to call for its boycott because majority owners Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz established the Heseg Foundation, a fund to support former Israel Defence Forces members who have no family in Israel. According to a flyer distributed, the Israeli military has committed war crimes and these lone soldiers tend to come from abroad.

Also in the march was Amir Khadir, co-leader of Québec solidaire, the new sovereignist party that ran candidates in all but one riding in the March election, and Eleni Bakopanos, former federal Liberal MP and current Liberal candidate in Ahuntsic.

The PQ and Québec solidaire endorsed a declaration issued by the coalition at a press conference June 6, along with 30 other Quebec groups that condemns Israel’s 40 years of alleged occupation, violations of international law and Palestinian rights, and defiance of United Nations resolutions.

The declaration calls on the federal government to demand that Israel immediately withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza (which it calls “an open-air prison”), east Jerusalem and the Golan, to dismantle Jewish settlements and its “wall of shame,” the security barrier.

It also urges the Harper government to restore aid to the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority, Israel to stop its “target assassinations of Palestinian leaders and arbitrary arrests of Palestinian parliamentarians,” and the right of return or compensation for Palestinians, as well as the de-listing of Jewish National Fund.

The coalition does not denounce Palestinian terrorism and makes only a passing reference to Israel’s security concerns.

Among the other signatories listed are unions representing public school and CEGEP teachers, the Fédération des femmes du Quebec and La ligue des droits et libertés.

In an interview, Turp said the PQ’s “balanced” policy on the Middle East has not changed, but that the party feels it is “very important to show solidarity with the Palestinians.”

He deplored Israel’s “numerous” violations of international law and UN Security Council resolutions going back to No. 242, its repression of the Palestinians and its ignoring “the very clear” ruling of the International Court of Justice against the security barrier.

Speaking before the march, Turp said he would feel “uncomfortable” if Hezbollah symbols were displayed.

The Bloc and the federal Liberals are not listed as endorsers of the declaration. Ménard said his party did not sign because it believes a broad-based international conference must be held to end the conflict. But otherwise he said the Bloc agrees with the substance of the declaration.

PQ MNA Louise Harel, who walked beside Turp, was to present a petition, similar to the declaration, to the National Assembly last Friday, but Turp told The CJN this did not happen.

In his remarks to the demonstrators, Turp, a Université de Montréal law professor, emphasized Israel’s non-compliance with international law and the UN.

He briefly mentioned Israel’s security and said the PQ “condemns all terrorism.”

Khadir told the demonstrators that Israel’s actions are “a shame for all humanity” and called for an international campaign against Israel similar to that which toppled apartheid in South Africa.

Pamphlets urging “boycott Israeli apartheid” were distributed beginning with Israeli products sold here, such as wine.

Turp told The CJN the PQ has taken no position on a boycott of Israel.

Actor Pierre Jasmin, president of Artistes pour la paix, stated that Israel’s security barrier is “a crime against humanity.”

Walking in front of the marchers were artists Devora Neumark and Tali Goodfriend, dressed in black and their faces veiled, who carried an uprooted Russian olive tree, symbolizing, they said, the displacement of Palestinians.

The marchers stopped in front of Place des Arts to set up a mock roadblock. Three people in army uniforms forced three others wrapped in Palestinian flags face down onto the pavement.

Executive director of the Quebec-Israel Committee, Luciano Del Negro, said the expressed its “deep disappointment” that the parties would associate with the coalition’s position which he described as “obscenely and virulently anti-Israel.”

The demands made will “manifestly not do anything to promote dialogue or the peace process,” and are particularly “outrageous” at a time when Israel is being daily shelled by Hamas-backed factions.

“These people are more intent on delegitimizing Israel than resolving the conflict,” Del Negro said.