Pro-Palestine rally in Calgary stops traffic; thousands gather at protests across North America

CALGARY – Hundreds of people were in downtown Calgary Sunday night for a protest supporting Palestine.

The rally featured people in cars and many on the street.

Some of the signs featured things like “Boycott Israel” and there were many Palestinian flags.

WATCH: Pro-Palestine protest stops traffic downtown

At one point, police shut down parts of Macleod Trail because of the number of people attending.

The protests were stoked by five days of mayhem that left at least 145 Palestinians dead in Gaza and eight dead on the Israeli side.

The violence, set off by Hamas firing a rocket into Israel on Monday, came after weeks of mounting tensions in contested Jerusalem.

READ MORE: Israel says Gaza tunnels destroyed in heavy airstrikes

Israel stepped up its assault and slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes Saturday, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home of a senior Hamas leader, killing a family of 10 in a refugee camp and destroying a building that housed the offices of The Associated Press and other media.

Demonstration aligns with rallies across Canada

While there were no reports of violence in Calgary, tensions ran high at competing demonstrations over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in both Montreal and Toronto.

Police in Montreal confirmed they responded to a conflict that erupted between protesters and counter-protesters at a rally in support of Israel near the city’s downtown Sunday afternoon.

People were heard shouting “Free Palestine” as they ran from police, who fired chemical irritants into the air.

The pro-Israel rally comes one day after thousands attended a pro-Palestinian march in Montreal to demand an end to Israeli airstrikes over the Gaza Strip.

READ MORE: Tensions flare at Israel-Palestinian demonstrations in Montreal, Toronto

Meanwhile, police in Toronto say they’ve laid charges in connection with a pro-Palestinian demonstration that drew more than 5,000 people to Nathan Phillips Square outside City Hall on Saturday night.

A 22-year-old man faces an assault charge, while a 29-year-old man was charged with bringing a weapon to a public meeting.

Police say they’re also investigating a separate alleged assault outside the square that was circulating on social media.

A spokesperson confirmed it was connected to the demonstration but offered no other details.

Pro-Palestine protests in LA, Boston, San Francisco

Stateside, pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and other U.S. cities on Saturday to demand an end to Israeli airstrikes over the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of people shut down traffic on a major thoroughfare in west Los Angeles as they marched two miles from outside the federal building to the Israeli consulate. The protesters waved signs that said “free Palestine” and shouted “long live intifada,” or uprising.

READ MORE: Protesters in major US cities decry airstrikes over Gaza

In San Francisco, a raucous crowd banged drums and yelled “Palestine will be free” as they marched across the Mission district to Dolores Park.

A similar scene played out in Boston as protesters walked a short distance from Copley Square to the Israeli Consulate for New England, blocking traffic.

-with files from The Associated Press

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