Around 30 people braved Saturday's downpour to protest Israel's attacks on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla that killed 9 peace activists and injured dozens more. The group gathered in front of City Hall to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza and to listen to speakers from Jews for Just Peace, St. Thomas University, Mount Allison University, the Fredericton Islamic Association and the Fredericton Peace Coalition.

Many speakers highlighted the need to answer the call of Palestinian civil society for a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli apartheid.

Sarah Kardash of Mount Allison University spoke of the recent resistance from faculty and students in response to the university's decision to honour Indigo Books and Music Inc.'s CEO, Heather Reisman. Reisman and her husband Gerry Schwartz are founders of the HESEG Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships to former 'lone soldiers' -- soldiers who serve in the Israeli military but who are not from Israel.