Anti-war protesters gather at security forum

The annual anti-war protest in Halifax gathered a few dozen people despite rainy weather on Saturday.

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Protesters played drums and yelled in the direction of the Westin Hotel as people gave speeches. Allan Bezanson spoke on behalf of No Harbour for War, an organization that advocates for an anti-war government.

“Our former defense minister,” Bezanson said, “is calling for the most aggressive military alliance in the world, led by U.S. imperialism.”

“There’s 51 or 56 think tanks and NGOs here. These are the apologists for imperialism. These are the ones who wrote scholarly articles, who do the scholarly research, and juggle the facts and misrepresent everything.”

Bezanson also criticized the media.

“We are being inundated with misinformation about what’s going on,” he said.

Former HRM poet laureate El Jones braved the rain to recite a poem.

Yazan Khader protested as a member of the group Students Against Israeli Apartheid at Dalhousie University. He spoke with Signal TV as protesters chanted.

Khader said he was content with the turnout. The Dalhousie student said there were other events going on in the city that may have drawn people away, such as Hijab day at the Central Library.

Protesters who spoke with the Signal said that they wanted to make a statement against the Canadian government’s policies for war.

The annual event occurs in parallel with the Halifax Security Forum. The conference gathers world leaders and international organizations aiming to promote collaboration among democratic countries.

Special thanks to Meech Kean of Signal TV for shooting and editing the video footage.