Jews and allies gathered Monday evening in Esquimalt for a sombre memorial to mark the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and led to ongoing retaliation by Israel that has claimed more than 41,000 Palestinian lives.
“If you’re Jewish, I know that we will have an instant connection, because we are connected through our shared history, our shared culture, our shared experiences. It’s literally in our DNA. We are one family,” April Nowell told a crowd of about 100 in Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion.
When Jews meet each other for the first time, it usually doesn’t take long to find a mutual connection, and when she’s asked if she has any family in Israel, her answer is “No, but yes,” Nowell said.
“So that’s why on Oct. 7, the ground gave way beneath our feet. We all remember where we were as the news began to trickle in and this slow, sickening realization set in that this was not another small border skirmish, but something unimaginably worse,” she said.
Hours earlier, a massive Palestinian flag was unfurled on the steps of the B.C. legislature.
Watermelon slices, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, were held above a crowd of around 300 people, many wearing keffiyehs and holding Palestinian flags while music about Palestinian freedom played.
The event began with a land acknowledgement saying that Lekwungen people have been “ethnically cleansed” from their territory and moved to reserves.
“The banner is Palestine but the real cause behind it is dismantling a capitalist genocidal system that has been ongoing for the last five centuries and more,” Anas, an organizer of the event who didn’t want his last name published for fear of being targeted online again, told the crowd.
In an interview, Anas, who is Palestinian and Lebanese and grew up in Lebanon after his father fled Haifa in what was then known as Palestine during the 1948 Nakba, said he wants people to understand this conflict didn’t start on Oct. 7, 2023.
After decades of Palestine being denied the right to self-determination and independence, Anas said organizers of the event are demanding a permanent ceasefire, an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza, and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The day was marked across Canada and around the world with prayers, protests, and a heavy police presence.
Children arrived at Jewish schools under police watch in cities including Vancouver and Toronto.
Mourners remembered victims of the attacks and prayed for the safe return of hostages seized by Hamas, while others demonstrated against Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Events were mostly trouble-free, but in Montreal, what began as a large and peaceful pro-Palestinian march through the city’s downtown ended with police using chemical irritants and sheer numbers to chase off a group of protesters who used metal bars to smash the doors and windows of a row house under construction belonging to McGill University.
A masked speaker with a megaphone said it was to be part of a sports science institute named after Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, and urged the protesters to “take out your rage on the building.”
For the past year, the Hamas attack and the ensuing war have been at the heart of widespread protests, university encampments, and a spike in reports of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims.
In Montreal, several hundred people had gathered downtown to mark the anniversary with speeches, wreath-laying and prayers while a smattering of pro-Palestinian protesters shouted and police kept watch.
Channa Leah Natanblut, a Concordia student and one of the speakers, said Jews were hurting and mourning and it was important to deal with that sadness and show strength.
“It’s been a very hard year, but I think it’s important to show other Jews that we are not intimidated by the violence we’ve seen in the streets of Montreal … their fear tactics are not working on us,” Natanblut said.
Thousands of supporters of Israel gathered in Toronto’s north end Monday night.
Mayan Shavit, who lost two members of her family, an aunt on Oct. 7 and a cousin who was among six hostages killed in August, said she was in “disbelief” seeing so many people at the event.
“A year ago on Oct. 7, 2023, we woke up to a completely upside-down world,” she said. “I don’t know to what world we woke up to, but it wasn’t the world we all knew.”
Jeff Rosenthal, the chair of United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Greater Toronto, thanked local officials who attended the event, including Premier Doug Ford.
“Tonight, we come together to reflect and to remember the lives that were lost, the communities that were shattered one year ago and those remaining hostages that we so desperately want back home.”
The mother of a Montreal man killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks told a gathering in that city that the events of the last year have given her family the chance to see both the best and the worst of humanity.
Raquel Look said her 33-year old son Alexandre Look died a hero while shielding others after the music festival he was attending came under attack.
“I know that Alex infused my soul with the strength to keep going, and I will work tirelessly to build a future based on peace and co-operation for all people,” she said.
Long lines formed outside a Vancouver synagogue as people attending a memorial gathering had to go through metal detectors and were scanned by security wands.
Politicians of every stripe attended the event, including B.C. NDP Leader David Eby and B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who are midway through an election campaign.
Police in major cities stepped up protections during the anniversary.
Children were dropped off by parents at the Talmud Torah elementary school in Vancouver Monday morning under the gaze of police in bulletproof vests and at least one police dog.
Allie Saks, who has two children attending Talmud Torah, broke down in tears when asked about the police presence and parents’ unease.
“It’s hard to drop your kid off somewhere where you have to see police in front,” Saks said. “And it’s emotional for all of us. We’re all in a state of grief today and for the whole year — until our hostages come home.”
