Hundreds of protesters gathered at the steps beside the U.S. Embassy on Sussex Drive Saturday afternoon to rally against a decision made by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Residents were voicing their frustration regarding Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital.
“What he has said is a bomb that has just exploded and created more tensions in Jerusalem,” says Mayse Abu who was born in Florida, but has lived in Ottawa for 25 years.
“I am very frustrated that we have a leader that I have to say is my president saying that what his thoughts are, is what the whole population thinks. That is not freedom, that’s not being the leader of the free world,” she says.
Amal Zeina says she was heartbroken when she heard the news on Wednesday. “It’s so sad that he is taking decision - it’s not his country, it's not his city to take over and decide if it’s the capital or not.”
Maha Alsousi brought her children to the rally. “We are proud Palestinian-Canadian…I wanted my children to know what is happening in Palestine. When I heard the news I was very angry.”
Similar rallies were also held in hundreds of cities including Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.
Trump’s decision has also sparked protests around the world.
Hundreds of Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli troops across the West Bank on Thursday while demonstrators in Gaza burned posters of President Trump.
In the West Bank, crowds of protesters set tires on fire and hurled stones at Israeli troops.
In Bethlehem, troops fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd, in clashes that could cloud the upcoming Christmas celebrations in the town of Jesus' birth.
