ManitobaHundreds ran in Winnipeg on Sunday to show support for Palestine, on the same day the Prime Minister announced that Canada will formally recognize a Palestinian state.4th annual Run for Palestine brings out hundreds to Assiniboine ParkCBC News · Posted: Sep 22, 2025 8:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoKhaled Aldrar and Harald Fagerstrom took part in the 4th annual Run for Palestine held at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg on Sunday. (Ron Dhaliwal/CBC)Hundreds ran in Winnipeg on Sunday to show support for Palestine, on the same day Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada now officially recognizes a Palestinian state.More than 350 participants ran or walked in the 4th annual Run for Palestine at Assiniboine Park. Many applauded Carney’s decision to join the UK, Australia and Portugal in officially recognizing the state of Palestine, but some say Canada needs to also walk the talk.”It’s the first step,” Harald Fagerstrom said after Sunday’s run. “There’s many steps that need to be taken, but recognition is one for sure. “And people need to know [Palestinians] are their own people … and they deserve the same rights we all enjoy.”Emma Fineblit, a member of the Manitoba chapter of Friends of Standing Together, an organization with chapters around the world made up of both Jewish and Palestinian people, agreed, saying she hopes it is more than a “symbolic” pronouncement by Canada.Andrea Janz, from left, Emma Fineblit and Anna Levin, post at Assiniboine Park on Sunday. Fineblit says Palestinian people have a right to self-determination. (Ron Dhaliwal/CBC)”It is certainly Canada’s obligation, as a UN member, to recognize the rights of the Palestinian people as Indigenous people with their rights to their homeland. So the symbolic recognition is good, it’s important, but we hope that it’s followed by diplomatic action.”Carney’s announcement comes after the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, committed to a series of reforms, including the demilitarization of the state and a pledge to hold general elections in 2026 — in which Hamas cannot participate.A statement released Sunday from the prime minister’s office says the Canadian government believes the decision is a way to ensure a peaceful co-existence of Israeli and Palestinian states.As a Jewish person with family in Israel, Fineblit said she would like to see an end to the conflict and the violence. “I want them to be safe and I don’t think that the escalation of violence, that the invasion of Gaza [by Israel], makes them safer,” she said.But Richard Robertson, the director of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith, a Canadian Jewish service organization and advocacy group, said he feels the decision on Sunday was too rushed.”Prematurely attempting to facilitate a two-state solution only sets back our efforts to create a lasting peace in the Middle East,” he said.”The two-state solution requires a democratic Palestinian state that has demonstrated its potential to work with its Israeli neighbours. And right now, we simply don’t have that.”He also accused the Canadian government of “caving to international pressure.” “The better approach would be for Canada to work with its international partners to get the Palestinian people to a place where they are capable of having their own democratic state, and then bringing the Israelis and the Palestinians to the table at that time,” Robertson said. He is also concerned the decision could lead to greater antisemitism and a rise in anti-Jewish sentiment in Canada. “The premature recognition will only embolden those who have been inciting hatred against Jewish Canadians,” Robertson said. Fineblit, however, disagrees that the recognition will put Jewish Canadians like herself in danger.”This has nothing to do with hatred of Jews. Those are two separate things,” she said.”Antisemitism is real, but that is not the responsibility of Palestinian people. That does not take away from the rights of the Palestinian people to have their right to self-determination.”Along with raising awareness, organizers said Sunday’s run was also held to raise funds for Islamic Relief, an organization with partners on the ground in Gaza to provide humanitarian aid.
Winnipeggers run for Palestine, as Carney announces Canada’s recognition of Palestinian state
