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No to Deportations: Montrealers Rally in Support of the Ayoub Family

simms, Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 07:00
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simms

 

Hundreds of people turned out for a rally in front of Jean Lapierre's offices in the Outremont riding of Montreal, yesterday evening, to express their support for the Ayoub family, a group of three Palestinian refugees threatened with deportation from Canada since February 3rd. Therese Boulos Haddad, Khalil Ayoub, and Nabih Ayoub -- all over 60 years of age -- came to Canada from the Ein-el-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon, and have found sanctuary in the basement of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce church in Montreal, where they have been "illegally" sheltered for over four months now.

 

Over a hundred people turned out for a rally in front of Jean Lapierre's offices in the Outremont riding of Montreal, yesterday evening, to express their support for the Ayoub family, a group of three Palestinian refugees threatened with deportation from Canada since February 3rd. Therese Boulos Haddad, Khalil Ayoub, and Nabih Ayoub -- all over 60 years of age -- came to Canada from the Ein-el-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon, and have found sanctuary in the basement of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce church in Montreal, where they have been "illegally" sheltered for over four months now.

According to Maurice Sauvé, representing the N.D.G. parish, a petition with over 9,500 signatures in support of the Ayoub family was submitted to the House of Commons in April, but has elicited no response. Both Jean Lapierre -- prominent Liberal candidate and Paul Martin's "lieutenant" for Quebec -- and Judy Sgro, the minister responsible for immigration, have not responded to repeated requests for a meeting with the three refugees. The Ayoub case is typical of the treatment reserved for stateless Palestinian refugees, about forty of whom are in danger of being deported in the coming weeks.

Representatives of the New Democratic Party (NDP), the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada (MLPC), and the Centrale des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) labour movement also came out to express their support for the Ayoub family and other Palestinian refugees. Doctor Amir Khadir was there as well to address the crowd, pointing out the intolerable conditions in refugee camps, as well as Canada's tacit support for the state of Israel, now in its 38th year of a brutal occupation of Palestine -- the root cause of the problem. A militant with the Montreal "No One Is Illegal" campaign denounced the federal government, which preaches "multiculturalism" and respect for international law, while trampling refugee rights and effectively discriminating against minorities.

Other photos (by manoomtl) : [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ]


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