In the wake of the Beirut explosion, Lebanese Montrealers organized an anti-government protest on Sunday morning at the Lebanese Consulate.
Organizers of the protest are calling for justice and accountability following the massive blast in Beirut’s port that killed more than 150 people, wounded thousands of others and destroyed entire neighborhoods, leaving tens of thousands homeless.
“It’s heart breaking, we are heart broken, and our hearts are shattered,” organizer Ghadi Elkoreh told Global News. “Ask anyone here; we have been going through episodes of anger, sadness and crying, everything. But we can’t just be passive.”
Lebanese Montrealers are sending their support to Beirut, Elkoreh said.
“It’s important for us Lebanese Canadians to use our privilege, which is the freedom that we have here, to express our anger and amplify the voices of the oppressed people of Lebanon.”
READ MORE: Beirut explosion: Lebanese Montrealers call for change at protest outside consulate
Sunday’s protest in Montreal was in response to a pair of explosions that erupted in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday night.
The blast is believed to have been caused when a fire touched off a stockpile of 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that authorities left sitting in a warehouse for years — despite a customs official’s repeated warnings.
Now, many protesters are feeling the losses of their friends and family.
“They lost their homes, they lost their businesses. Already they’re going through an economic collapse and now if it wasn’t for us, I don’t how they would be rebuilding,” protester Jessica Moukhtarian.
The Montreal Lebanese community called this protest in solidarity with a peaceful protest in Beirut demanding for accountability of their government.
“The survivors of one of the worse tragedies of our time were met by security forces militiamen of the government who shot them with live ammunition, threw tear gas at them and the results were hundreds of injuries, two dead and 20 detained,” Elkoreh said.
READ MORE: Lebanon facing ‘perfect storm’ of devastation after deadly blast, unrest: expert
Many protesters agree that they need to continue the momentum of this fight but it is not the same as fighting if they were back home.
“I feel helpless, I feel like I can be doing more,” protester Sali El-Dib said.
“The least I can do is show my people support and educate people that are non-Lebanese.”
“I feel guilty I’m not on the ground with them helping them clean but what I am doing is showing up to these protests raising awareness and raising funds to be able to send to my people, but I would prefer to be over there with my people,” Moukhtarian added.
Organizers say that these protests and the fight for the removal of their government will continue until changes are made and demands are met.
READ MORE: Beirut explosion: Here’s how you can help the victims
The Quebec government, for its part, announced $1 million in emergency aid to help support humanitarian projects in the devastated Lebanese capital.
It says financial support will be granted to international development organizations from Quebec that work in Lebanon that have the capacity to intervene quickly and effectively in this type of situation.
The Canadian government has said it will provide $5 million. On Saturday, the federal government announced it will match all individual donations from Canadians to humanitarian relief efforts in Lebanon.