Members of Montreal’s Jewish community expressed concern following Hamas’s call to commit “acts of violence” on Friday on this “Day of Wrath.”
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“They are afraid to leave their house,” said Lisa J. Grushcow, one of the rabbis at Temple Eman-El-Beth in Westmount.
The rabbi denounces that the timing of the demonstrations is “poorly chosen” and sees these gatherings as “a celebration of Hamas and violence.”
She explains that these expressions of support for Palestine reinforce this sense of fear and make this moment of grief “very difficult.”
“The attacks [du Hamas] were so barbaric and so terrible that we think anything is possible at the moment,” she testifies.
Call for unity
Ms. Grushcow recognizes that “what Hamas did was not good for the Palestinians.”
In these tragic moments, the rabbi instead calls for unity.
“We can be for Palestinians, we can be for peace, like many of us in the community,” she explains, “but now holding a demonstration with a broken heart.” […] It’s not sensitive.”
A pro-Palestinian rally is being organized in Montreal this evening. Former Quebec Solidaire member Amir Khadir will speak during this event on Boulevard de Maisonneuve at 5 p.m.
Members of the Jewish and Muslim communities will sit around a table to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Elsewhere around the world, several protests were organized in major cities across the Middle East today.