Hundreds of pro-Gaza protesters gathered outside city hall to demonstrate against Israel’s invasion of Gaza — Operation Protective Edge — on Friday, Aug. 1. The previous two protests saw over 1,000 attendees. Hamas and Israel have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, which is set to end Thursday, August 7. Over 1,800 Palestinians and over 60 Israelis have died in this year’s conflict.

Protesters outraged over Israel’s invasion of the Gaza strip gathered at city hall on Friday, July 25, for the third week in a row. Organizers estimated that over 1,000 people attended the rally, matching last week’s numbers.

Friday’s protest was the third organized by University of Calgary organization Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and Calgary based group Justice for Palestinians (JFP).

SPHR president Ala’a Hamdan said this week’s rally was different from previous protests.

Over 1,000 protesters angered by Israeli strikes and ground invasion of Gaza gathered outside city hall on Friday, July 18, doubling the turnout of a similar protest one week earlier.

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) — a University of Calgary club — and Justice for Palestinians organized the protest, which began at 6:00 p.m. Organizers sent out the invitation on Wednesday, the day before Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza.

The University of Calgary and University Heights communities shrank. Calgary grew by 28,468 last year but the two communities saw population declines of 0.35 per cent and 0.80 per cent, respectively, according to the 2002 civic census released Wed. July 2, 2002.

"Typically, inner city areas do tend to slowly decline in population," said Ward 1 Alderman Dale Hodges. "University Heights being a mature community, younger families don't want to move in as much as we want them to."