Bearing Witness Against Genocide

CHARLIE ANGUS / THE RESISTANCE — MAY 18, 2025

[Former MP Charlie Angus has now closed his Ottawa office following from the Canadian House of Commons for 21 years. His advocacy continues however, notably through his Substack blog: The Resistance.]

---

[Charlie Angus]

“One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” — Omar El Akkad, October 25, 3023

Just because.

Donald Trump has forced the suspension of the work of the International Criminal Court and threatened its legal team with arrest. That doesn’t mean the crimes aren’t being committed.

Just because.

The leaders of the great Western powers do nothing as they watch children being starved to death in the world’s largest death camp. That doesn’t mean this is okay.

Just because.

The media treats Genocide as if it were some natural disaster, with no mention of who is perpetrating this mass crime. That doesn’t mean politicians, military and soldiers are absolved of their guilt.

Just because.

It seems so overwhelming and hopeless. That doesn’t mean we aren’t obligated to do something.

Anything.

My mom and I were talking the other night about what it means to be living in a time when the deliberate murder of an entire people has become normalized.

Make no mistake: Gaza represents a pivotal moment in the 21st century.

All of us have been made accessories to an unprecedented debasement of humanity because elected leaders have chosen to collude with Israel. If this crime is allowed to go unchallenged then all manner of crimes against humanity become probable.

And then, I received an email from Ted Schmidt reminding me of his weekly Thursday morning vigil against Genocide.

I have written before about Ted and his decision to stand out on the corner of Toronto’s Kingston Road and Victoria Park every Thursday morning with a simple sign that reads: “Never Normalize Genocide.”

Standing on the sidewalk with a sign may seem insignificant, but Ted, a retired high school teacher, sees it as a teaching moment. He says that if we aren’t standing up to the evil, we become complicit in the crime.

And so, my Mom and I decided to join him. For Mom, it was her first-ever political action.

This past Thursday (May 18, 2025), there were about 18 people. Every week, there is a revolving crew of volunteers. They stand along the busy roadway as people head to work. Some folks honk and wave. Others stare blankly.

A shop owner rushed out of his shop and held up one of the signs before going back in to cut vegetables.

A man in a delivery truck was so overwhelmed that he stopped in the busy traffic and offered us freshly baked naan.

An older woman saw us and came over to speak to every person in the line.

She was overwhelmed by grief. By fear.

Fear for the world her grandchildren are inheriting. And fear of what it means that our generation has failed so badly in standing up for international law.

“Where is the hope? What can I tell my grandchildren?” she pleaded with me. I knew what she was talking about.

I have spoken with young people who have been doxed, threatened, and targeted by universities for speaking out against the Genocide. One young woman told me her small business had been heavily boycotted for simply hosting a Friends of Palestine event.

It shouldn’t be the job of young people to carry the burden of calling out the Israeli death machine.

That is the job of our elected officials. It is the job of the international community to demand an end to the Genocide by boycotts and firm international action.

But since they refuse to do their job, the job falls to us elders.

And so there we were, a rag-tag group of very ordinary folks gathering on a very ordinary street corner as witnesses against a crime against humanity.

Hope, the woman asked me, where is it in this time of darkness? Hope,” I told her, “is here on the street.”

You’re always welcome to join the Kingston Road Vigil. Ted will be at the corner of Toronto’s Victoria Park and Kingston Road every Thursday at 8 am, ready to greet you.

Afterwards, the rag-tag group gathers at the local Tim Hortons to share stories and build community.

And if you want to host a vigil in your community, please let The Resistance know the details, and we will help promote it.

Keep kicking at the darkness.

We need to make it bleed daylight.

---

© 2025 Charlie Angus
The Resistance charlieangus@substack.com
PO Box 74173, Ottawa RPO
Beechwood, Ontario K1M 2H9

BREAKING

Go here to read and share the excellent Joint statement from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. Such a statement should have been offered years ago; at least it has come now.