Anti-war demonstrators rally in Winnipeg to remember victims of Iran crash, speak out against conflict

Dozens of demonstrators holding homemade anti-war signs rallied outside the U.S. Consulate at the corner of Portage and Main in Winnipeg on Saturday, speaking out against further violence as tensions continue to mount in Iran.

Kam Kamrouz is an Iranian who has lived in Winnipeg for 30 years. He lost friends in the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, which Iran acknowledged Saturday was brought down by missiles launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

"You go for peace here. And no war, no killing, no assassination is going to help," Kamrouz said.

Among the 176 victims aboard the Ukraine International Airlines Flight, which crashed outside Tehran on Wednesday, were 57 Canadians.

CBC News has confirmed that at least eight people on board the flight were from Winnipeg.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that an investigation by the Iranian military found that the missiles that shot down the plane were fired due to "human error."

The plane's crash came hours after Iran had launched a missile strike on two military bases in Iraq housing U.S. and Canadian troops, in retaliation for the assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike.

Coming together in times of sorrow

In Winnipeg, the loss of life is unsettling to the city's tight-knit Iranian community.

Fariba Eghtedari is an Iranian who has been in Winnipeg for decades. She says the news that the plane was shot down by the Iranian military is deplorable.

"It was shocking and devastating," Eghtedari said. "We lost some friends here in Winnipeg and some in Edmonton, so we feel it with our own flesh."

Lynn Campbell, who was at Saturday's demonstration, said following the tragedy, she explained to her daughter, Sophie, why she hopes decades of conflict in the Middle East will finally come to a peaceful ending.

Sophie Campbell, 4, was also at the demonstration. She says she was there because she doesn't want any more civilians to be hurt.

"Because I want to save them … so they can save the country," she said.

Sophie's mother said her daughter had expressed interest in going to the demonstration, so the two bundled up, grabbed their cardboard anti-war signs and ventured downtown together.

Lynn Campbell said she went to the rally to voice her support for an end to conflict in the Middle East and against starting a "new war," adding she believes America's leadership is causing tension in the region — and needs to stop.

"U.S. President [Donald Trump] is a lot more like a toddler having a tantrum than an actual adult," she said. "[That] doesn't mean you get to go and start a fight with somebody else. I'm sorry, that's just absurd."

Campbell wanted her daughter to see that the victims killed in the plane's crash were "perfectly normal people," who had come to Canada to make their lives better.

"In my mind, those are the first [casualties] in this war," she said.

The protest is part of a nationwide day of action called by the Canadian Peace Alliance.