Raquel Ohnona, centre, mother of Alexandre Look who died during Oct. 7 attacks speaks during a commemorative ceremony in Ottawa on Oct. 6. Monday marks one-year since the beginning of hostilities between Israel and Palestine.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Hundreds of Jewish Canadians and their allies gathered Sunday on Parliament Hill to remember the victims of the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 of last year.
Carrying the flags of Israel and Canada, and yellow balloons to commemorate those who were kidnapped by Hamas militants that day and are still being held hostage in Gaza, the group gathered at Ottawa City Hall and then marched to Parliament Hill, where members of the victims’ families, religious leaders and Canadian politicians addressed the crowd.
One of the speakers was the mother of a Canadian who was killed on Oct. 7 in Israel.
“My son showed remarkable heroism in his last moments,” Raquel Ohnona Look told those gathered. “Throughout his life, his very short life, Alex was the embodiment of strength and courage.”
Alexandre Look, 33, who was raised in Montreal, died using his body as a shield to protect others who took shelter in a bunker when Hamas attacked those attending an open-air music festival that day. He was one of 1,200 Israelis and foreigners killed on Oct. 7, the Israeli military said, along with 240 people taken hostage.
The Hamas attacks triggered Israel’s continuing war in Gaza, where nearly 42,000 people have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In Lebanon, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,400 people since September, including civilians, medics and fighters of the militant group Hezbollah.
Ottawa has attempted to adopt a balanced approach to the conflict – supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, while calling for an immediate ceasefire – which has earned criticism from supporters of both Israelis and Palestinians.
Among Sunday’s speakers was Ottawa-Vanier Liberal MP Mona Fortier, who expressed condolences on behalf of the federal government for those killed and taken hostage, as some in the crowd booed and shouted, “Do something.”
Calgary Heritage MP Shuvaloy Majumdar received cheers and applause when he spoke of his Conservative Party’s unqualified support for the right of the State of Israel to defend itself against Hamas and Hezbollah – one instance of what appears to be shifting support among some Jewish Canadians toward the Conservatives.
Speakers drew attention to the rising level of antisemitism in Canada in the wake of the attacks and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza.
David Granovsky of B’nai Brith Canada said it had been “a tough year, a difficult year, for the Jewish community. We’ve never seen this level of antisemitism in our country.”
Ottawa Police reported in July that there had been 74 incidents targeting the Jewish community in the capital to that point in 2024, compared with 36 in 2023. Incidents against Muslims had also risen, from seven to 15.
But Rabbi Moshe Caytak of Ottawa’s Chabad Jewish Centre told The Globe and Mail that he preferred to dwell on the outpouring of support the Jewish community in the national capital has received.
“In difficult times, you have to focus on the positive,” he said. “We have seen a surge of people coming together in unity across the community.”