October has been a heavy month for the Turtle Island Solidarity Network. We watched from afar as our collaborator Mskwaasin Agnew, an Indigenous (Cree and Dene) harm reduction worker living in Toronto, sailed toward Gaza on the Conscience with the Freedom Flotilla. On 7 October, the Israeli military intercepted the vessel in international waters and detained everyone aboard, in violation of international law.
During the 30 hours that Agnew was detained, the Toronto Police arrested 17 people demonstrating for her release and for an end to genocide. Eight were arrested during a sit-in at the office of Agnew’s local Member of Parliament, Karim Bardeesy, calling on him to advocate for her release and for sanctions on Israel. Nine were arrested at a demonstration downtown at which Agnew’s mother spoke of her daughter’s courage and solidarity with the people of Gaza. Rawan Nabil, a Palestinian community organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, rallied those gathered “to uplift the demand to break the siege on Gaza, for a two-way arms embargo and to end this genocide.” On her return to Toronto, Agnew told friends gathered to welcome her, “There is still a genocide happening in Palestine, and my comrades are still in prison. We need to tell Canada to sanction Israel.”
Our relief at the announcement of a ceasefire was short-lived as we almost immediately heard news of Israel blocking the entry of aid into Gaza and threatening further attacks.
Then, on 16 October, TISN members observed as municipal workers evicted unhoused people camped in the churchyard at the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, where CPT’s Canada Office is located. For the past five years, the City of Toronto has repeatedly removed unhoused people and their belongings from the site, over the objections of the church. The church only found out the day before that this time, the City meant to make the eviction permanent, by fencing off the yard and scattering massive concrete blocks across it to prevent anyone from pitching a tent. The eviction ironically took place the day after Rev. Maggie Helwig received the 2025 Toronto Book Award for her book Encampment, a memoir about the people and experiences of the encampment. A few of the 12 people evicted accepted spaces in the crowded and often unsafe city shelter system. Others simply began searching for another place to camp within walking distance of the church and The Neighbourhood Group’s community centre, on whose support they rely.
We invite your prayers for the transformation of the public systems that cause such suffering.
May our “justice” system cease to criminalize people for acts of survival and for nonviolent political action.
May we advocate for policies based on human rights rather than the interests of the powerful.
May we act with wisdom and courage to dismantle colonial systems and build coalitions of global solidarity.
May we soon see an end to genocide and the beginning of healing and reparation.
