As the literal first breaths of the Jan. 19 hostage release saw three young women—Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher—released into the aching arms of their families and nation, participants in the Bring Them Home Montreal march gathered for their 54th Sunday morning walk in the city’s west end with renewed vigour and purpose.
For more than a year, people of all ages have routinely walked through Hampstead, Côte Saint-Luc and Snowdon, chanting for the freedom of the hostages and saying their names.
This week, some 80 marchers sported orange ribbons in honour of the second birthday of Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped on Oct. 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz at eight months old with his 4-year-old brother Ariel, and parents Shiri and Yarden.
The mood on this frigid day—where wind chill neared minus-20 as marchers made their way down ice-covered sidewalks, under police escort as always—was mixed, a combination of elation to see three daughters of Israel return and angst over future stages of the deal and the fate of the remaining hostages.
Between all the smiles and tears, co-organizer Keren Zach told The CJN the feeling right now “is it’s making a deal with the devil. But we need our people home, they deserve to be home, and right now, Emily, Romi and Doron are on their way to see their moms in the next few minutes. And this is the reason why we’re doing this right now, and we’re going to continue marching until every single one of them are home.”
Asked if this is the beginning of a semblance of justice for Israel, Zach said, “I can’t tell you. We deserve it. I wish it to be yes. But no, not by the way the world is acting. It’s as if we don’t matter.”
She pointed to the extremist language of anti-Israel demonstrators in Montreal the very night the deal for the hostage release and ceasefire were announced, as the crowd chanted calls for intifada and shouted praise in honour of Yahya Siwar and other terrorist leaders.
Philip Greenstein was among the marchers on this historic day. “You can’t be human without being happy that daughters will be returned to their mothers and fathers,” he said. “We understand that the price that Israel has already paid from Oct. 7 on, and you realize that cynically said, that there’s really no justice in the world.
Zach lost friends at the Nova music festival, including Dor Malka, “a really sweet guy who loved soccer and always had a smile,” and worked on Kibbutz Holit with Youssef Ziyadne, whose body was recently recovered from Gaza. She cautioned others to “watch news, but don’t watch the news. Try to keep away from it, and don’t set proper expectations, just hope for the best and expect the worst. Don’t overthink it, because they (Hamas) love to do psychological operations.”
As for the questions of who’s alive and who’s not, “These people will only be free once their feet are in Israel. Once they are in Israel, I will breathe for them.”
Greenstein thanks the universe daily “for making me a Jew in this time. Because this is when it counts. This is when it matters to be Jewish. This is how we show we have to transcend words. I wake up at night thinking about hostages, I wake up in the morning thinking about Israel.” Every day, he said, “you walk by people with keffiyehs. I mean, you know, your head explodes.”
“We have to plant our feet firm, and we don’t know whether this is the first or the last wave of what is just the beginning of a multi-generational war for the survival of Judaism. So more than ever we have to be united. We’re just a big bag of humans but there’s something transcendent about being Jewish and that’s what brings us together. And I hope we can remember that now and act like a tribe, like a people who need to be very connected.”
Hampstead city councillor Jack Edery, a frequent marcher in the group, has encountered the extreme rhetoric of anti-Israel protesters—who have been invited by Montreal mayor Valérie Plante and her colleagues to voice their opinions on pro-Israel politicians at Montreal’s agglomeration council.
Edery likened the current mood to how “Yom HaZikaron is always followed by Yom Haatzmaut, one moment we’re crying and one moment we’re celebrating. So today, we celebrate that they’re home, but we cry that the rest of them aren’t. It’s psychological warfare. We don’t know if Kfir Bibas is going to come back alive or if he is going to come back dead. Personally, I think we need to do everything we can to bring back every one of the hostages, and then after they’re all back, we’ll deal with Hamas.”
Bring Them Home Montreal co-organizer Ruben Hassan moved the crowd with a stirring speech about the hostages—whether released or waiting to come home—with a special message for now 2-year-old Kfir Bibas.
“We want to tell you and your brother that you are not alone, every candle lit today represents a prayer for your return, a promise to never stop fighting, for you, for your family and for all those who are still held hostage in Gaza. You are the hope of this nation, the faces of a future where life always triumphs.
“Let this birthday be the last spent far from at home. We are waiting for you with hearts full of love and arms wide open. Happy birthday. Ariel, we are also thinking of you, you are our strength, our hope, and soon you will be back among us.”
