I made my way to the underground car park, hoping that I wasn't going to get caught in traffic again, but as I approached city hall, I saw that the crowd had moved on from this part of Elgin Street.
I wouldn't be late in picking up DW again.
I saw what appeared to be a family—a man about my age, a woman, and a teenaged boy—looking lost as they waited for the light to change. The woman was carrying a sign, calling for an end to the slaughter and for peace. The youngster was holding a Palestinian flag.
"Are you looking for the march?" I asked.
The man nodded a yes.
"Stay on this side of the street and go all the way to the top," I said, pointing up Elgin. They're already turning right, onto Wellington, past the Chateau Laurier. See those police lights?"
The man nodded again. I hoped that I was understood. I wasn't sure if the family spoke English.
"That's the back of the march. As you get closer, you'll hear the chants. Good luck."
"Thank you," he said.
"I hope your people find peace." My use of your people felt awkward but I didn't know what else to say. I meant the Palestinians in Gaza, who were caught up in the violence between Hamas and the Israeli government.
The light changed and we walked our separate ways. I had just walked past the protesters, who came up Elgin Street and were passing the National War Memorial. I had been photographing the Senate building, formerly Union Station, when I heard the horns blowing and the chanting: "No justice, no peace."
I admit that I know very little about the conflict in this part of the Middle East, but since the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas, a couple of weeks ago, I've been looking more closely. And the more I learn, the more sympathy I feel for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
From what I've learned, it seems like the citizens of these areas are under tight Israeli control—even in their own territories—while Hamas uses them as human shields while it carries out its attacks. The Israeli military is blindly attacking the area, seemingly without any regard for the innocent people who have no where else to go.
And each side can't help but feel hatred to the other.
I agree that Hamas is a terrorist organization that must be dealt with harshly, but I don't think that gives Benjamin Netanyahu the right to indiscriminately destroy neighbourhoods and hospitals.
Didn't his mother teach him that two wrongs don't make a right?
And shame on all governments who unreservedly give support behind Netanyahu without condemning the violence that has been shown to the innocent Palestinians in Gaza.
So I have no qualms about supporting the people who joined in on the march on Friday night and any marches that follow until the killing stops and there is a call for peace. And Netanyahu must be called upon to answer for his disregard for innocent lives that have been taken in this conflict.
Justice must be served on both sides. Until then, there can be no peace.
