Lauren Moses-Brettler was arrested as she sang peace songs with more than a hundred other Jewish and pro-Palestinians allies while occupying Parliament Hill to demand Canada put in place an immediate arms embargo against Israel.
“Some of us were violently removed from the building and arrested, and everyone else was kicked out,” the Jewish activist told Ricochet, describing the December 3 sit-in. When police arrived, the demonstrators were singing Jewish songs, chanting, and peacefully protesting arm-in-arm, Moses-Brettler says.
“Folks have bruises on their wrists from handcuffs, and [police] just kept saying, you know, ‘we’re just doing our jobs,’” she says. “They were treated more roughly.”
Defiant, Moses-Brettler said Canadians should not allow parliamentary business to continue while a genocide continues to unfold. “It is not business as usual.”
“Our message is that you cannot continue to be complicit in this genocide, and we will not sit by while you use our faith and our culture and religion of Judaism as a cover for this,” Lauren Moses-Brettler said.
About a dozen police swept the demonstrators out of the Confederation Building on Parliament Hill, while some officers pushed protesters roughly down the stairs and held them on the ground. Fourteen demonstrators were arrested as they called on the Canadian government to impose an immediate arms embargo with Israel. They were released without charges.
Moses-Brettler said that she is now banned from entering Parliament Hill for one year.

The action was organized by the Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition, Independent Jewish Voices, and If Not Now, with some members after travelling to Ottawa from different cities across the country. They all wore black shirts that read “Not in my name” and “Jews say no to genocide,” while they held a sit-in inside, blocking a main hallway to MP offices.
They unfurled large banners of “Jews for free Palestine” and “Ceasefire Now.” The crowd prayed, sang, and recited Jewish texts, chanting “Arms Embargo Now!”
“When we survived the Holocaust, we learned that this should never again happen for anyone,” she said. “Never again means never again for anyone, and this is happening in our name.”
“I am here to push Canada to stop supplying Israel with weapons, and to make it clear that Jewish people do not want Canada to continue to provide weapons to Israel,” David Mivasair, a retired rabbi who served two different synagogues in Vancouver for about 23 years, told Ricochet.
Mivasair’s message to the MPs was “not to listen to the Jewish organizations supporting Israel — they don’t speak for us.”
“We have shown up on the streets, thousands strong every single week, sometimes more than once a week. We have petitioned. We have met with MPs. And we have held blockades at weapons factories,” Rachel Small, an organizer with World Beyond War Canada, told Ricochet.
Small said that they are resolved to pressure the Liberal government to follow through on its commitments to end the flow of all weapons to and from Israel.
Do “not to listen to the Jewish organizations supporting Israel — they don’t speak for us.”
Marlee Wasser, a member of Jews Says No to Genocide and If Not Now Toronto, and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors on both sides of her family, said that they took over the parliament building to stop parliamentarians from getting to their offices and continuing business as usual while Canada continued to arm a genocide.
“When we survived the Holocaust, we learned that this should never again happen for anyone,” she said. “Never again means never again for anyone, and this is happening in our name.
“It’s absolutely atrocious, and so we have to very loudly and clearly say, no, we do not want this as Jews, as Canadians! Stop our complicity.”
So far, 47 MPs, including NDP Foreign Affairs critic Heather McPherson and Hamilton Centre MP Matthew Green, have agreed to endorse the government’s proposed full arms embargo, Small says.
“We have had some baby steps, but it is not enough, Wasser told Ricochet. “There are still at least 200 permits that have not been suspended for Canadian companies manufacturing weapons going to Israel.”

In October, the Canadian government claimed it had halted the export of military goods to Israel, and only around 30 permits have been suspended, The Maple reports. However, more than 200 active permits remain, enabling the continued shipment of military technology to Israel.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Jolie in September said that Canada would not be sending any weapons that are used in Gaza.
“However, she only suspended 12 per cent of the active permits to directly export weapons to Israel. She only paused approving any new permits, she has not actually stopped the flow of weapons to Israel, and we’re here to demand they act now,” Small said.
Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 44,500 Palestinian people in Gaza – the vast majority women and children.

“Every F-35 fighter jet and Apache helicopter currently bombing Gaza and killing Palestinians is equipped with Canadian-made parts worth millions of dollars,” according to World Beyond War Canada.
“We had to bring the message right to the federal government and make sure that they just cannot continue to be directly supporting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians,” Small said.
“The MPs prevented from going to work were faced with the undeniable reality that the Canadian government continues to arm Israel’s war machine.”
“The prime minister just said that Canada will always follow international law. So why are we not following international law when the Israeli government is accused of war crimes and plausible genocide?”
On September 18, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to impose sanctions on Israel for the first time in 42 years, following a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that upheld Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid policies.
Then, on November 22, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, citing reasonable grounds to believe they have been criminally responsible for war crimes, including murder, persecution, and using starvation as a weapon of war in a “widespread and systematic attack” against Gaza’s civilian population.
“The prime minister just said that Canada will always follow international law,” Wasser said. “So why are we not following international law when the Israeli government is accused of war crimes and plausible genocide?”
“We should not be waiting for anyone to be arrested. We should end our complicity immediately.”
Demonstrators told Ricochet that they will continue to push the Canadian government to admit its role in arming Israel and “stop hiding Canada’s complicity” in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
“We are just asking for Canada to follow international law and its complicity in ongoing war crimes and genocide,” Wasser added.