Jewish Montrealer Eric Hazan says he’s felt devastated since his cousin Omer Shem Tov was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival.
“The whole family has been a mess, in shambles,” he said.
A year ago, he woke up on a Saturday morning with his phone blowing up with notifications about what was happening in Israel. Within a few hours, his cousin’s family had tracked his phone in Gaza.
It was too late.
“He had just finished his service [with the Israel Defence Forces],” he said. “He’s a loving young man. He was looking forward to making some money and do some travels,” he said.
Hazan says he will hop on the next flight the day Shem Tov is released.
“The families want their family members back. That’s all we want,” he added. “I just wish more people would recognize the horrors of what’s going on with the hostages and not look at them like victims of war.”
Eric Hazan says he has been devastated since his cousin Omer Shem Tov was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival almost a year ago. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)
Monday will mark one year since Hamas carried out an attack in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 Israelis. Some 250 hostages were taken by Hamas to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Nearly 100 of those hostages remain unaccounted for.
Israel has killed more than 41,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and wounded at least 94,000 more. More than 680 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank — most by the Israeli army and some by Israeli settlers.
In Hampstead, marches through the streets have become a regular occurence on Sundays. People gather with the goal of making sure the public doesn’t forget about the hostages.
On Sunday afternoon, their photos were displayed on the walls of a room at the Sylvan Adams YWHA, where people performed, prayed, and gave speeches.
‘We are here to express a human issue’
Ruben Hassan, who’s with the group Bring Them Home Montreal, has been speaking at many events.
When he thinks about one-year-old Kfir Bibas and his five-year-old brother Ariel, tears stream down his face. He says he can’t understand how the world isn’t coming together to demand they be brought back.
“We don’t know if they’re still alive,” he said.
“How is it possible to have a baby who is only one and a half and is still hostage, him and his brother?”
Photos of Israeli hostages are on display at the Sylvan Adams YM-YWHA community centre. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)
Hassan says Arab, Muslim, and Iranian Montrealers have joined the weekly event.
“They [want to be] together with us because they know we fight for the freedom and for everyone in the world,” he said.
Hassan says he would love to see every person in the area and people from every country support his community.
“We will continue until all are back,” he added.
Amir Amozig, another member of the community, is a regular at the weekly march. He says that although he and other members of the community are “discouraged” that the hostages are still not released, he is inspired by the “resilience of Israel, of the Jewish community.”
He believes actions like the march can spark hope.
“Today is an extension of why we are here every single Sunday, but because it has now been a year, it only amplifies the urgency for us to express ourselves, for us to express solidarity with the community,” he said.
“We are here to express a human issue, this is not a political issue.”