Wellington County residents organize Pedal for Palestine

GUELPH/ERAMOSA – Community members will come together for a bike and walk on Sept. 27 in support of Palestine. 

The fundraiser will kick off with speakers and snacks in the southwest corner of Exhibition Park at 12pm. 

Participants will head out on community bike rides and walks at 1pm. 

There are two routes: one is 41km and the other 5km. 

The longer route is the same distance as the length of the Gaza Strip and will head west out of Guelph toward Ariss, taking Wellington Road 39 to the Kissing Bridge Trailway, eventually crossing the Grand River, and turning around and following the same route back to Guelph.

The shorter route follows the Speed River north to Woodlawn Road before looping back to Exhibition Park. 

People’s Conference for Palestine

Funds raised during the event will support the third annual People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity in Guelph on Oct. 3. 

The conference, hosted by the Guelph 4 Palestine Coalition, will take place throughout downtown Guelph, and include panels on various topics, including current national strategies to divest from Israel and implement an arms embargo. 

There will also be children’s programming available throughout the day.   

The conference will conclude with a curated vegetarian dinner from chef Layla Saleh of Retour Guelph. It will feature dishes hailing from Southern Lebanon, made with local produce grown by farmers in the community.

Tickets are available at a pay-what-you-can rate, to help organizers cover costs.   “Extra funds will be donated directly to people in Gaza,” conference organizers state. 

For more information about the conference, or to register, visit eventbrite.com/e/the-2026-peoples-conference-for-palestinian-solidarity-in-guelph-tickets-1998958017240. 

Apartheid free

The theme for this year’s conference is “Apartheid Free,” which speaks to an effort to inspire an anti-apartheid movement.

Apartheid Free Guelph is encouraging organizations to sign a pledge affirming their “commitment to freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people and all people; to oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination and oppression; to declare [their community] apartheid-free ... and to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.”

Rockwood resident Anees Munshi is one of the Pedal for Palestine organizers and speakers. 

He said: “The conference is important because ‘Apartheid Free’ is a crucial principle that we must all live by to ensure that ‘never again’ is materially actioned and truly actualized as never again.” 

“Never again” is an expression stemming from the Holocaust, never to allow such an atrocity again.

Pedal for Palestine organizers invite the community to participate in an afternoon of “community, taking action and solidarity.”

Registration is not necessary; just show up at Exhibition Park at noon on Sunday to participate.