‘If they could kill him, they would’: Jewish couple who stopped a hate crime in Montreal speak out

Liat Lev Ary and Dan Goldstein watched a man get attacked for carrying an Israeli flag.
hate crime against Jews
A Jewish man carrying a rolled-up Israeli flag was accosted by two men after leaving a Yom ha-Atzmaut celebration in Montreal on May 5, 2022. (Video courtesy of Dan Goldstein)

Last week, Dan Goldstein called to his wife, Liat Lev Ary, to look out their office window in Montreal. They saw a Jewish man, carrying an Israeli flag from a Yom ha-Atzmaut celebration, attacked by two men in broad daylight. Goldstein then ran out of their office and onto the street to yell at the attackers, who then ran away.

Local police haven’t found the suspects, and there have been no developments since the incident occurred. Investigators are looking to speak with a good Samaritan who intervened before Goldstein arrived, and who was also beaten before quickly leaving the scene.

It turns out, Lev Ary and Goldstein knew the victim. And while the victim didn’t want to speak to us on advice of his legal counsel, the couple are keen to spread the word. As descendents of Holocaust survivors, they feel deeply disturbed by the sharp rise in anti-Israel sentiment in their own neighbourhood.

What we talked about:

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