‘Inuit for Palestine’: People in Iqaluit march in support of Gazans
About 20 people gather Tuesday evening to mark World Humanitarian Day with call for peace
Roughly 20 people gather in Iqaluit Tuesday for a march in solidarity with Gazans in Palestine. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Imaruittuq Angutimarik is one of the organizers making the Tuesday march the first Inuit-led pro-Palestinian protest in Iqaluit. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
About 20 people with Palestinian flags, scarves and homemade signs gathered in Iqaluit Tuesday to voice support for what one protest organizer called a fellow “Indigenous nation.”
“It’s important for Indigenous people to unite and show that we care about one another,” said Imaruittuq Angutimarik.
She said the injustice that Inuit have lived through with forced relocations isn’t far from what Palestinians in Gaza are going through now, with homes and many buildings there destroyed after close to three years of ongoing military conflict.
It’s the first time Angutimarik has organized a protest. She said she’s honoured that people came to stand by her to call for an end to the fighting.
The protest was scheduled for Aug. 19, which is World Humanitarian Day.
In a light rain, the protesters gathered in front of Iqaluit’s RCMP building. They marched across town chanting slogans like “Inuit for Palestine” before reaching the Iqaluit health centre. Some drivers honked their horns in support as they passed by.
Afterward, the protesters returned to the Igluvut Building for a throat singing performance.
Iqaluit resident Meral Jamal has helped organize at least five protests supporting Palestine since the latest conflict in the Middle East started on Oct. 7, 2023. On that date, close to 1,200 people in Israel were killed and roughly 250 others were taken hostage in a surprise attack by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
Israel responded with military action and its forces have since occupied much of Gaza. Despite worldwide calls for a negotiated end to the war, more than 62,000 people in Gaza have been killed, Gaza’s health ministry said this week.
Jamal said one of the most common criticisms she hears is that Gaza is far from Nunavut, and the Arctic has domestic issues that need to be addressed.
“It’s fair. And yet Inuit who are here, Inuit who are helping organize this — they’re proof that Gaza is not far away,” she said.
“Everyone knows this here but Inuit, first and foremost, know what a genocide is like, what starvation is like, what hunger is like, and what political failure is like in these contexts.”
Stop comparing inuit to gazans
You have to put into context, as fellow indigenous people, we understand the plight of the Palestinians, you may not agree, but us Inuit know the real history of Inuit and colonization know, not from the whitewash history of the European Canadian perspective.
Amazigh are Indigenous to the Levant
Copts are Indigenous to the Levant.
Druze are Indigenous to the Levant.
Judeans are Indigenous to the Levant.
Samaritans are Indigenous to the Levant.
Yazidis are Indigenous to the Levant.
Palestinians are colonized descendants of those groups and descendants of the Arabs who colonized the land. They have no long-standing cultural ties to the land and are not Indigenous by any definition.
Palestinians have a right to safety and autonomy. They have a right not to be displaced again. They have a right to basic necessities and to support from the global community in that regard. But calling them Indigenous when Arabs were the ones who colonized the land is offensive. That would be like calling the descendents of the British people Indigenous to Canada in 500 years.
We’re all from earth and no group of people spontaneously emerged from the earth in a single spot and stayed there. Everybody migrated. Unless you’re referring to the planet, stating one group is indigenous and another isn’t is absurd. Indigenous is just jingoism for political leverage.
Ashkenazi Jews aren’t biblical Jews, therefore they cannot be gods chosen people.
We should obviously all support Palestine. But Palestinians are not an Indigenous People. I don’t know why people keep saying this. That does’t mean we shouldn’t care and do all we can to end the genocide of Palestinians or any of our fellow humans, but please stop repeating this.
This is all good – except the Jews are the indigenous people, the Palestinians are the outsiders -sort of like the Inuit replacing Nunavut’s original inhabitants.
Here endeth the lesson.
You mean the time the Inuit ethnically cleansed the land of the Tuniit? The way the Jews are ethnically cleansing Gaza?
We always know you’re going to jump in to add this comment. We recognize you as the pattern.
Yeah, I’m sure Palestinians will be out marching in solidarity with Inuit any day now… right.
People want to feel good about themselves and think they are helping.
I dont see these people protesting alcohol abuse, child sexual assault, domestic abuse, suicide and homelessness.
You want to help, try helping those around you, your community and territory.
Then organize one, and I’ll join your march, I like how you assume that we do this to feel good, when in fact it’s done out of compassion for fellow human beings to end suffering. Maybe you should try that sometimes instead of being judgmental
Regardless of who gets credit for organizing the march, the message is shaped by the loudest voice. In this case notice from the picture who is out front and holding the bullhorn. Or, in William Golding’s terms, who is holding the conch. Inuit are being manipulated to believe they share a victimhood with Palistinians. The same is happening across the country, with marginalized groups, college students, etc being drawn into an activism they don’t understand and a history they are unaware of. Sounds a little, how you say, …colonial.
I do help with local problems on my own time, stop assuming caring about one another is neglecting ourselves.
Flavor of the month fueled by media sensationalism. Dont forget that Palestinians voted for Hamas: a terrorist organization set on destroying jews. Why has there been no outcry about the ongoing genocide in South Sudan, Myanmar, Central African Republic?
Hamas is not a terrorist group, they were formed because Palestinians have to protect from constant attacks since 1948, when Israel was set up the British Colonist out guilt of what happened in WW2.
Zionist Israelis are the real terrorist, it’s not flavour of the month as you like to call it. If you really know the history of Palestine you would know the real story of why the genocide is happening. Look up the Ugandan Scheme that will give you and understanding of the true history.
British colonialists should take it back. Full stop
“Hamas is not a terrorist group”?? You see the problem with public schools. If you went to private school you’d understand how the world works. You can go too, you just have to pay for it. Start with a job. Or do what Gen Z does best. Play the victim, cry about life and expect colonialists to take care of you.
The comically sad thing is Oh Ima was bragging about their degree (graduated with honors apparently) just the other day.
For an ‘educated’ person to deny Hamas is a terrorist group is definitely next level obliviousness.
I am glad your oppressed with me! and that I can trigger you so easily. Trying reading and learning about history, and actually meeting people from Palestine, I know not learning and falling for western propaganda is your forte. Put down the Archie comic book and learn.
Here’s a history lesson for you that Tik Tok won’t teach you….”Palestinians are Arab rejects that no other country in the Middle East wanted”. Egypt’s wall that keeps Palestinians out is bigger than Israels wall. Everyone knows why except you. There’s a reason no other country in the Middle East takes Palestinians in. Blame the colonialists all you want. It’s the same colonialists that gave them the land that didn’t belong to them. Just like the land give to Pakistan by the colonialists. But you’re not crying about that because you’re an antisemite. You only come out to protest when the Jews are involved.
Oh Ima, even your fake name sounds like you cant admit when you are wrong, tell someone the sky is blue on a nice day and you prolly get offended.
50% of Gazans were not yet born in 2016 when the last election was held. The babies who starved to death today are not Hamas.
I love how these points are always mentioned but when people try make effort, people are so quiet and shamed for bringing awareness. You guys are so herd mentality when it comes to people bringing awareness about anyyyythinnnnng. So many of these issues interlink together in our communities and the excuse is “doing nothing” or “What about our people?” atti do something like Imaruittuq did and the other things she does without attention onto it.
Maybe you’re just lazy? Or are you also part of facebook comments how these victims of child abuse, homeless people due to mental illness are sooo scary and helpless because of drugs and alcohol? Imaalirik. Complain about good and complain about bad. Typical Peter.
“I dont see these people protesting alcohol abuse, child sexual assault, domestic abuse, suicide and homelessness. ”
….
From a quick scan of the people involved by name or in the photo, I can already spot one person who is active when it comes to advocating for housing and food security, and I see a few others who care about and bring attention to things such as assaults and suicide…
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If you actually cared about any of your listed issues, you wouldn’t be holding this over the heads of people to make yourself feel better – you only care about those issues to the extent you can use it as a club against others.
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No one will be walking around with a sign listing all the causes they believe in and support through their own actions, so how would you really know if these people didn’t care about what you bring up? It may surprise you to hear that there are people who are active in multiple social causes, there ends up being a lot of time to be productive when you don’t limit yourself to criticizing others on Nunatsiaq News.
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You want to help others, Peter? Stop taking shots at people whenever they visibly try to support causes around you, your community and territory.
At all times, good people will be good, and evil people will be evil. For good people to do evil things, religion is required. Israelis and Palestinians prove this point on a daily basis. The Israel-Hamas War is a religious war. Casual observers frequently forget that.
Taking one side or another in this religious war will not end the evil that this war and these religions bring. It simply will give aid and comfort to one side to continue to be cruel and heartless to the other. Unless you are a Jew or a Muslim, you are hardly in a place to argue the merits of this conflict.
It is therefore ridiculous that any born and bred Nunavummiuq would protest in support of Hamas or Palestinians.
It is true Christians oppressed and converted Inuit. This is no different than the treatment Christians have given both Jews and Muslims over time, and in turn, what Muslims have frequently reciprocated towards Christians. Inuit, if we want, can find ample common cause with a Jew, Muslim or Christian depending on the time and circumstance. Saying we are particularly similar to present day Gazans is a joke. In fact, from the point of view of land ownership and control, we are much more similar to the Jewish state.
The only morally and ethically correct stance a casual observer can take on this war is to demand that secular humanism be adopted as the mode of government over there. It is quite obvious once God gets involved, peace and good government is simply impossible.
It’s not a religious war, there are Christian Palestinians just as there are Israeli Christians, Zionist are the real problem that are committing ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.
Exactly. Palestinian is a nationality. It is not an ethnicity, and it is not an Indigenous identity.
Even if this were exclusively a religious war, that wouldn’t mean that others should just butt out or that “the only morally and ethically correct stance” is to advocate for secular humanism; advocating against the intentional killing of children and starvation of populations is in no way immoral or unethical (though butting out and saying “it’s not my problem” just because you aren’t Muslim or Jewish might be).
Imagine wanting to be a victim so badly you pretend some kind of Inuit genocide that meaningfully compares to what is happening in Gaza. Unbelievable…
Image being so ignorant of the fact that Canadian Government do recognized the Residential School as an act of genocide against Indigenous people including Inuit.
There’s no analogy between residential school and the flattened remains of Gaza today. How many bombs were dropped on your community in the name of this genocide? How many children mowed down by the Canadian military?
You completely discredit yourself with these absurd comparisons.
Kowtowing to the delusions of activists was the worst of Trudeaus legacy. The residential schools were a disgrace on this country, they destroyed lives and should never have happened. Still, no serious person believes they were an attempted genocide in any meaningful way.
when you mean nobody, means that people don’t know the word cultural genocide that Canadian Government used officially.
When you went to University did you learn what a qualitative difference is?
I certainly do, and so does any Canadian historian work their salt. When Canada added crimes relating to genocide to the Criminal Code in 1987, there was all sorts of debate about the fact that residential schools meet the internationally-accepted definition of genocide and about whether Canada should use the the standard definition or omit the part of it that addresses the removal of children from one ethnic group and transferring them to another. That’s eventually what Parliament did — made advocating *some* types of genocide illegal, but not those in which the Canadian state had clearly engaged. Trudeau had nothing to do with it; he was a teenager at the time.
If you’ve noticed, the same drivers of multiculturalism are driving that wiping off Palestinians from the map.
Immigration good. Mass immigration bad.
Flighting over real estate , since biblical times !!!
So the comments will be closed on the LGBTQ+ article and not this. The comment section in this article will go sideways quick
Neither should be closed
I wrote a comment on that article that in no way whatsoever violated any of Nunatsiaq’s terms and it still didn’t make it past the Mods. There’s definitely some moderation bias going on.
Nunatsiaq moderators are very fragile. Even well measured comments can send them reeling.
Some dude from Rome (emperor Hadrian) named it “Palestine” The Roman Emperor Hadrian is the figure most associated with renaming the region to “Palestine”. Following the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, he renamed the province of Judea to Syria Palaestina, incorporating it into the larger Roman province of Syria. This act was partly intended to erase the Jewish connection to the land. However, the name “Palestine” was not entirely new, as it had been used in Greek texts, including those by Herodotus, centuries earlier.
Multiple genetic studies show Palestinians today are the true Indigenous people of that land. They converted from Judaism to Christianity and some then to Islam (but many remain Christian). Palestinian Canaanite & Bronze Age Connection:
Palestinians share substantial ancestry (50-70%) with Bronze Age Levantine populations, including the Canaanites.
Indigenous Roots:
Modern Palestinians descend from the earliest hunter-gatherer and farmer populations that inhabited the Levant over 10,000 years ago, incorporating genetic imprints from later Bronze and Iron Age civilizations.
Palestinians are genetically closer to those people than modern day Israelis who are largely European. Basic analogy: Israelis are to Palestinians what NunatuKavut are to Inuit.
Inuk Fatigue!
This term came to mind for me the other day too… it’s a thing.
The conflict in Palestine and Israel is what would happen if landback warriors got what they wanted. The original people of the land taking it by brute force as if it’s their divine birthright.
Birth right or treaty rights that were broken? Do some research before calling others hypocrites.
Land does not belong to anyone by birthright or even treaty right. It belongs to who can hold it. Inuit are just lucky that the political cost for settlers and conquerors is too high to do it, but it’s not because they don’t have the military might to do it. Israel has that power and is reconquering its homeland; Palestinians also have the valid argument that this is their homeland but little military might to hold it. Arguing over a piece of land where both people have been for millenia is ridiculous and the same case can be made for most of Canada.
I think the goal post will move no matter what I say to you. Key board warrior.
Israel forever and forever.
There’s no such thing as judeo-Christian, go to Israel
A few things to keep in mind:
Many of these comments will be coming from people/organizations that do not live here. The Hasbara is the name of the Israeli digital propaganda program.
Some of them will be from people who do live here. It is a good reminder that there are angry, hateful, and extremely racist people who walk among us.
They know they can never express these opinions publicly, so they delight in these kinds of trolling online.
What a sad existence. Know that they spend their days quiet as a mouse in their cubicles seething over their isolation and malcontent.
I wish this comment could be at the top of this nonsense so that people read it first. It’s the most sane and relevant.
“Israel’s a country with the same heritage, same culture, same land, same language, same currency, same faith, same name, same inhabitants as did 3000 year ago”. Archaeology, history books, artifacts and science supports this 100%.
palestine was invented by a man named Yassar Arafat, a murderer, a rapist, a monster in the same way hamas terrorist are murderers rapist and monsters who give no regard to you and your children and your culture identity, or if there own kind. This is a war with hamas not people living in the gaza strip. It will stop the moment hamas releases the hostages and hamas disarms. Release the Hostages.
Invented by Arafat?
So in sum ethnic cleansing, genocide okay?
This comes from a Pentecostal church goer, have you seen videos of jews spitting at nuns in Palestine, Israel is an illegitimate state, most of the settlers are European Jews and can’t trace their ancestry to the area. You only support this genocide because it fits your end of time narrative.
The delusion is strong with this one, imagine being mad at everything that does not concern you. Maybe you should go move to Gaza and still have the same uneducated mindset
oh ima, you and i both know this has nothing to do with mine or your faith, or pentecostalism, catholicism, universalism,christianity, atheism or islam. It’s hatred to the core-antisemitism. What you saw or heard on the actions orchestrated by hamas in Israel Oct 7, 2023 is pure hatred and evil. I -we all you know there are still hostages from those horrific attacks. All hamas needs to do is stand down, disarm and release the hostages and this chaos ends. It’s that simple. At this moment it ain’t about religion, faith or atheism-it’s about the hostages. “Release the hostages”
Most of the Jews in Israel are from the Middle East and North Africa.
A fifth of the population is Arab.
Ashkenazi Jews are the minority. Don’t take my word for it. Look up demographic data.
Ashkenazi are also more genetically similar to Jews who remained in the Middle East than they are to Europeans. There’s plenty of evidence to back this up.
Oh Ima You claim to sp all from a place of knowledge, but you rely on tiktok talking points instead of evidence backed information.
Everyone who doesn’t know the conflict and occupation and fight for real freedom of Palestinians don’t know that Israeli government has thousand of Palestinians, even children were they are subject to torture and sexual abuse by Israeli IDF and guards. If guys are calling for Israel hostages that are well taken care of by Hamas, then demand release of Palestinians hostages in Israeli prison.
It is all humanity’s duty to stop genocide. US Canada and Europe are supporting with OUR tax dollars the slaughter by Israeli army of Palestinians. Here are JEWISH voices including of Holocaust survivors and their descendants who say Israel is committing a genocide, Google them! Peter Beinart, Gabor Mate, Stephen Kapos, Omer Bertov, Amos Goldberg. Look up Independent Jewish Voices Canada, and also Jews Say No To Genocide. Israel’s own statistics show 83% of the people they killed so far are civilians.
This comment section shows Religion brings out the ugly side in many people.
Lets remove religion from this conversation entirely because this is about a nation defending itself from a terror attack.
Yes Israel has a right to self defense, yes the people living in Palestine have a right to self determination and self government.
What the Israeli Government and the IDF are doing is genocide at this point, they are killing entire families, babies included because of the sins of a few.
Here’s the thing Hunter.
For a year or so before this war started, many Arab nations were calling for an all out assault on Israel. While Israel has easily the most powerful military in the Middle East, many Arab groups believed the Israelis to be soft.
The argument was, Israel would win the war at first, but the people didn’t have the stomach for a long , ongoing bloody war. As a result, they would eventually surrender and Israel would be wiped out.
Some people who know a lot more than me, believe Israel set out to ensure no Arab state would be willing to wage a long war with Israel. It makes sense to me.
Easy to judge from a distance. But IMO, if Israel wasn’t the bad actor they are, Arab states would have crushed them to dust decades ago and slaughtered their entire population while they were at it.
Israeli Government has the backing of the most powerful military in the world, the United States plus Israel has nukes.
That being said what they are doing starving out 2 million people, killed people seeking aid and levelled 75-80% of all buildings is ethically and morally wrong.
Or are you okay with staving and killing innocent babies and children?
United Nations Agency has just declared a famine in GAZA.
500,000 are on the brink of death because of the continues oppression by the IDF and Israeli Government.
These people are starving at the and being choked at the hands of the Israeli Government and the IDF.
Again innocent babies and children are being punished because the sins of a few this is not morally or ethically right.,
And yet…. the hostages haven’t been released and the terrorists haven’t surrendered.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
This is such a beautiful action of solidarity, and I’m sure it means a lot to people in Gaza. Sending love from NYC!
Well done with the protest event on the Humanitarian Day. Let’s Keep it going. Silence is in fact siding with the apartheid state. There are huge resources, media and other funnelled into the anti-Palestinian/pro-Israel campaign. To name a few journalists who present video and print material to shed more light on conflict, this one and others I refer those interested to – Pepe Escobar, Abby Martin, Danny Haiphong, Ben Norton, Rachel Blevins. Mainstream media suppression in this land Canada ensures we do not hear of them and their stories.
How about cleaning up Nunavut first and catching up to the rest of Canada before getting all sanctimonious.👿😈
Help inuit family’s & inuit in general in need first many with out food across nunavut living like in we’re 3rd world class citizens help us inuit first so that we can help others in need.
and here i thought all Inuit were gospel christians, roman catholic christians, anglican christians and other christians. I ask why support a country that causes death and destruction?
Comparing the situation of the Inuit to those in Palestine is absurd, in my opinion. It appears to me that a narrative is being piggy backed on this tragic situation. That being said, the killing over there must stop. Whatever happened to the United Nations peace keeping forces/zones? Are we so impotent as a global community, that we can stand by and watch civilians being slaughtered and starved to death? It’s disgusting. The United Nations is useless. History will look at this as a great tragedy of our times.
The validity of Inuit protests against the genocide in Gaza should not be criticized because of the use of their term “indigenous” to refer to the Palestinians. The term is used to describe those with long ties to the land on which they live to distinguish them from settlers.
Palestine has long been recognized as an area, in fact in the late1800s when the Rothschilds began acquiring the land, they used the term Palestinian to refer to their fruit.
By expressing support for the Gazans, the Inuit are supporting the UN Human Rights Council. The Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 details how Israel has systematically displaced people from their land and replaced them with Jews. Now they are killing and bombing and starving the people in Gaza to remove them and replace them with Jews.
Israel is an apartheid state. Non Jews have limits on where they can live and move about. They are not allowed to vote.
The protests by the Inuit can show they care about the situation in Gaza and want their government to be more pro-active in supporting the Palestinians.
As for the Israeli hostages, has Israel ever accounted for how the kidnapping could have occurred. With 5 of the US largest high-tech companies involved in Israel and with US military companies involvement in Israel, how did they not know Hamas was planning an attack?
Where is John Fanjoy?