At the weekly Montreal Bring Them Home hostage solidarity march on Sunday, June 1, a participant shared her concerns over the group’s potential vulnerability to attack to a fellow member. “We’re very open here,” she said, as she walked along a boulevard traversing three municipalities in Montreal’s west end. “I mean, what’s to stop somebody from coming here with a bomb?”
“It will never happen,” said her fellow marcher, pointing to the local municipal security patrol, who, often with Montreal Police (SPVM) present, have escorted marchers every Sunday for the last 73 weeks. “No one’s coming to this neighbourhood,” he said. “They wouldn’t dare.”
In a macabre coincidence, four hours later and nearly 3,000 kilometres away, an Egyptian national who allegedly spent a year plotting a murderous attack, appeared at the weekly Boulder, Colo., Run for Their Lives walk armed with Molotov cocktails, a makeshift flamethrower, and a reportedly professed desire to kill Zionists. He attacked the group of some 20 marchers, setting some on fire, injuring 12, and reportedly shouting ‘free Palestine’ during what federal authorities have characterized as a terrorist attack.
After his arrest at the scene, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), the suspect Mohamed Sabry Soleiman allegedly told police he had no regrets and would do it again. The 45-year-old man was charged with more than 100 criminal charges, including 16 counts of attempted murder and hate crimes. This, 11 days after two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead outside the Jewish museum in Washington D.C. by a gunman shouting ‘free Palestine’ as he was led away by police.
The Run for Their Lives organization, with some 230 chapters worldwide, immediately advised member groups to take a pause in the wake of the horrific boulder attack, but it appears that caution didn’t take.
In Thornhill, Ont., the local group carried on even more determined on June 8, says organizer Michelle Factor, whose group promised to “Be Bold for Boulder.”
The weekly Thornhill event attracts 60-80 people for its solemn and quiet 2-km walk around a local shopping mall, hostage photos held aloft, their names read aloud, and a crowd that includes many elderly, including Holocaust survivors. But on June 8, the group in Thornhill numbered 300 people. It was powerful, says Factor, who adds that unlike Montreal and other chapters, her group has had difficulty arranging (York Regional) police presence free of charge. Five Shomrim, (private security) vehicles showed up on site, however, and were very visible, accompanying the marchers. “I didn’t even ask for that. This is community and commitment.”
“It was erev Shavuot and my phone went crazy,” Factor told The CJN, recalling how she learned about the Colorado attack. “I think I was in shock and so upset. The Run for Their Lives forum said ‘don’t post or say anything. We are all terrified and we’re going to stop walks until further notice.’
“That lasted a whole five minutes, because there’s no chance that was going to happen. We’re way too strong. This is the whole point, right? They’re not going to scare us, we’re not going to waver. We’re Jewish people standing strong; it’s a part of who we are.”
Sunday the group also welcomed Rabbi Doron Perez, father of Daniel Perez, the 22-year-old South African-born Israeli tank commander who was killed and abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and his body still held by terror groups in Gaza.
In Montreal, where the weekly Bring Them Home march, has assembled every Sunday since January 2024, the community was also stunned by the Colorado attack. “It’s more than a provocation,” said co-organizer Ruben Hassan. “It’s become criminal, wanting to kill people, mostly elderly people because they’re Jewish, and because they’re marching for a humanitarian cause.”
More than 120 people gathered for the weekly walk on June 8, still in the shadow of the Boulder firebombing and killings in D.C.
Montreal marcher Ilana Keeb-Rich heard about the violence in Colorado shortly after arriving from Israel. “I was still on Israel time when it happened,” she told The CJN. “I was confused and watching the video footage… it was horrible, it broke me. I think it broke all of us.” But she still showed up. “Of course,” said the Sunday stalwart. “We will not be intimidated here in Montreal. We will not let this climate of terrorism and acceptable antisemitism stop us from speaking out for the hostages and our rights as Jewish people. Of course I’m here.”
Hassan said the group immediately contacted police to determine how best to move forward, “to protect our population. From the very first day, security has always been the most important thing for us. We have a significant police presence, and we have Hampstead municipal security. And when we have major events, we bring in private security.”
When the group gathers every week, around 60 to 70 people, “we can’t afford for anything to happen” says Hassan, “so when we had this devastating attack in Colorado, it shocked the Jewish community. For me, the first thing to do was contact all our security services and tell them, ‘We are here, we are prepared. Tell us how we can make it even better.’ So now we’ve developed an even more robust security system.”
Indeed, Sunday’s Montreal march featured more participants, but also more security, the group escorted along the route by multiple police and municipal security vehicles. The robust police presence was recognized as marchers stopped at the end to thank individual officers.
Back in Thornhill, Factor says it’s different with the quiet Sunday rally, which is not escorted by police. “They will not come unless I pay them,” she says. But since Colorado, the group has asked for help, and the Run for Their Lives forum is encouraging fire safety training for all chapters.
“But if someone throws a bottle of gas at me, what am I supposed to do other than scream and throw myself on the ground?” She says she has contacted Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman about the issue, along with Vaughan mayor Steven Del Duca. “I want police presence, just to circle us, just to show people that we’re protected.”
The majority of chapters were actually walking on June 8. “Not one local leader has contacted us and said, ‘Sorry, I’m out. I’m not interested anymore’,” Run for Their Lives global coordinator Shira Weiss told the JTA on June 5, four days after the attack. What’s more, said Weiss, there has been an uptick in individuals seeking to join the movement, and 20 inquiries about starting new chapters since the attack.
Hassan says Montreal police were quick to cooperate, and he had particularly high praise for the municipal security team. “The Hampstead council offered us the protection from the very beginning. Hampstead security is so important, and even if the police aren’t present, we feel very safe, because they know us, our relationship is incredible, and the security staff are incredible people who take their work very, very seriously.”
Montreal’s weekly march is a little louder and more visible than some of its counterparts. The route winds through three municipalities on main boulevards and side streets, and features loud chants, the calling out of every hostage name, many posters and a plethora of Israeli, Canadian, Quebec, free Syrian and pre-revolution Iranian flags. “But we’re still a peaceful event,” says Hassan. “We’re respectful and we work with police.”
While each week will see an occasional middle finger or vulgar shout thrown at marchers from passersby, there’s never been a single serious incident, says Hassan. “We won’t be afraid. We won’t stop what we’re doing. We’re going to talk about the hostages, to be as visible as possible, and continue to show up, and ask people to come in large numbers.”
Co-organizer Michal Bental reminded the Montreal crowd on Sunday that the Mujahideen group that kidnapped Canadian-Israeli Judi Weinstein Haggai and her husband Gadi, whose bodies were retrieved by the IDF last week, is the same organization that kidnapped the Bibas family and Thai national Nattapong Pinta, who was also kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, alive, and murdered in Gaza. His remains were also retrieved by the IDF last week.
“It’s not only about Hamas,” she said. “There are so many groups out there, different ways, but one goal: to eradicate the Jewish people. Luckily now Iris, the daughter of Judy and Gadi, will be able to have this closure with her family after fighting for so long, trying to get help from the Canadian government with no luck, because all they wanted was just to have some pictures. She now can rest and have this moment.”
She paid tribute to Pinta, noting Israel and Thailand have had a long relationship with agricultural workers coming to Israel. “They work very hard for many years and are an integral part of all these communities. They help grow the country and keep its borders, and the work they do is really important. Our hearts are still with them, the sacrifices they do, and all the lives they lost on October 7 and after.”
Hassan agrees. “It’s a terrible war, and the world has forgotten that Hamas terrorists are still holding hostages; it’s essential to remind ourselves of this every week, every day, and everyone else too, whether Jews or Canadian politicians. Not until everyone is home.”
“The reason they attack us,” said Bental, who echoed comments from one Colorado marcher, “is because they’re scared. They’re intimidated by our presence, by our consistency, by our fight, by our bravery. We should remember that, and that should bring us hope, because we are doing something right here, and we should not be scared, and we should keep doing that until all the 55 hostages are back home. We will not be scared to show our identity ever again.”
People are exhausted “and there’s a lot of trauma out there,” says Michelle Factor, in Thornhill. “We’re all navigating this the best we can. But we keep going, and we’re stronger together. The Holocaust survivors say to us, that we have hope. They didn’t, but we do. We’re stronger. It’s interesting, isn’t it? And it’s very humbling.”
