With prayers, protests, and a heavy police presence, Canada has marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and triggered an ongoing war.
Children arrived at Jewish schools under police watch in cities including Vancouver and Toronto.
Mourners remembered victims of the attacks and prayed for the safe return of hostages seized by Hamas, while others demonstrated against Israel91裸聊视频檚 military action in Gaza that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the territory91裸聊视频檚 health ministry.
Events were mostly trouble-free, but in Montreal, what began as a large and peaceful pro-Palestinian march through the city91裸聊视频檚 downtown ended with police using chemical irritants and sheer numbers to chase off a group of protesters who used metal bars to smash the doors and windows of a row house under construction belonging to McGill University.
A masked speaker with a megaphone said it was to be part of a sports science institute named after Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, and urged the protesters to 91裸聊视频渢ake out your rage on the building.91裸聊视频�
For the past year, the Hamas attack and the ensuing war have been at the heart of widespread protests, university encampments, and a spike in reports of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims.
In Montreal, several hundred people had gathered downtown to mark the anniversary with speeches, wreath-laying and prayers while a smattering of pro-Palestinian protesters shouted and police kept watch.
Channa Leah Natanblut, a Concordia student and one of the speakers, said Jews were hurting and mourning and it was important to deal with that sadness and show strength.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 been a very hard year, but I think it91裸聊视频檚 important to show other Jews that we are not intimidated by the violence we91裸聊视频檝e seen in the streets of Montreal 91裸聊视频� their fear tactics are not working on us,91裸聊视频� Natanblut said.
In the separate protest march from Concordia University to McGill, some protesters ran down a side entrance onto the closed off McGill campus, knocking down a metal barricade manned by campus security.
That group was confronted by a contingent of police on horseback, before being chased back off campus by police who ran at them, banging batons on shields.
At the beginning of the march, McGill student Rama Al Malah said students were there to commemorate one year since the beginning of what she called a 91裸聊视频渕ass genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza.91裸聊视频� She said student protesters wanted to reaffirm their support for Palestinians and reiterate demands to Concordia and McGill, including divestment from companies linked to Israel91裸聊视频檚 war effort and an academic boycott of Israeli institutions.
Thousands of supporters of Israel gathered in Toronto91裸聊视频檚 north end Monday night, many of them holding photos of hostages or waving small Israeli flags.
Mayan Shavit, who lost two members of her family, an aunt on Oct. 7 and a cousin who was among six hostages killed in August, said she was in 91裸聊视频渄isbelief91裸聊视频� seeing so many people at the event.
91裸聊视频淎 year ago on Oct. 7, 2023, we woke up to a completely upside-down world,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 know to what world we woke up to, but it wasn91裸聊视频檛 the world we all knew.91裸聊视频�
Jeff Rosenthal, the chair of United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Greater Toronto, thanked local officials who attended the event, including Premier Doug Ford.
91裸聊视频淭onight, we come together to reflect and to remember the lives that were lost, the communities that were shattered one year ago and those remaining hostages that we so desperately want back home.91裸聊视频�
The mother of a Montreal man killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks told a gathering in that city that the events of the last year have given her family the chance to see both the best and the worst of humanity.
Raquel Look said her 33-year old son Alexandre Look died a hero while shielding others after the music festival he was attending came under attack.
91裸聊视频淚 know that Alex infused my soul with the strength to keep going, and I will work tirelessly to build a future based on peace and co-operation for all people,91裸聊视频� she said.
Long lines formed outside a Vancouver synagogue as people attending a memorial gathering had to go through metal detectors and were scanned by security wands.
Politicians of every stripe attended the event, including NDP Leader David Eby and B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who are midway through an election campaign.
Police in major cities stepped up protections during the anniversary.
Children were dropped off by parents at the Talmud Torah elementary school in Vancouver Monday morning under the gaze of police in bulletproof vests and at least one police dog.
Allie Saks, who has two children attending Talmud Torah, broke down in tears when asked about the police presence and parents91裸聊视频� unease.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 hard to drop your kid off somewhere where you have to see police in front,91裸聊视频� Saks said. 91裸聊视频淎nd it91裸聊视频檚 emotional for all of us. We91裸聊视频檙e all in a state of grief today and for the whole year 91裸聊视频� until our hostages come home.91裸聊视频�
Vancouver Police Chief Const. Adam Palmer said last week that protests posed a 91裸聊视频渟ignificant91裸聊视频� risk of disorder on Monday, and officers trained specifically for large-scale events were being deployed.
Pro-Palestinian group Samidoun was planning a Vancouver rally which it promoted by referring to the Oct. 7 attacks as 91裸聊视频淎l-Aqsa Flood,91裸聊视频� the Hamas code name for the operation.
A Toronto police van was parked out front of a Hebrew day school along Bathurst Street in one of the city91裸聊视频檚 most recognizably Jewish neighbourhoods. On the corner, a large poster called for the return of hostages.
Just up the road, at the Sherman Campus, a sprawling hub of Jewish groups and agencies, preparations were being made for a memorial event planned for Monday night.
A spokesperson for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, which was hosting the evening event, said it was important to gather to 91裸聊视频渞emember all the lives that were tragically lost on Oct. 7 in Israel, but also to recognize that this situation is still a live situation.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭his is not an opportunity where we are remembering something that happened. We still have more than 100 hostages, including family members of Canadians, who are in Gaza being held by Hamas,91裸聊视频� said Sara Lefton, the organization91裸聊视频檚 chief development officer.
Some victims91裸聊视频� families also launched legal action on Monday over the attack.
Tiferet Lapidot91裸聊视频檚 father, along with another Canadian who lost family members in the attack, filed a claim in Ontario Superior Court seeking $250 million in damages under Canada91裸聊视频檚 Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, plus an additional $100 million.
The claim lists Hamas, various Palestinian organizations, the leaders of Iran and Syria and several Canadian individuals and groups among the defendants.
It alleges all the defendants are in some way responsible or liable for the losses and damages caused by the deaths. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Family members said the last time they heard from Lapidot was in a phone call from the Supernova music festival near Israel91裸聊视频檚 border with the Gaza Strip, where Hamas launched its attack.
91裸聊视频淪he called her mother at nine o91裸聊视频檆lock in the morning, telling her that she loves her and they91裸聊视频檙e shooting youngsters all around,91裸聊视频� her uncle, Harel Lapidot, said Monday at a Toronto event marking the anniversary.
A year later, the family91裸聊视频檚 grief over the loss of the young woman he described as their 91裸聊视频渟unshine91裸聊视频� is 91裸聊视频済etting worse day by day,91裸聊视频� her uncle said. She was one of at least eight people with ties to Canada who died that day.
91裸聊视频淚t was the most horrific thing for us as a family to lose Tiferet. Tiferet was a happy young lady 91裸聊视频� that was just dancing at a festival,91裸聊视频� he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an event in Ottawa that members of the Jewish community in Canada continue to feel the effects of Oct. 7, including when people wave the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah and fellow Canadians dismiss their pain.
91裸聊视频淵ou relive it when the term Zionist is tossed around as a profanity, a label for something other than what it truly means, believing in the right of Jewish people, like all people, to determine their future,91裸聊视频� he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also addressed the crowd and criticized the government91裸聊视频檚 positions on the war and its handling of protests and attacks on Jewish institutions.
91裸聊视频淭his ideology that seeks to divide our people based on race and ethnicity that has led to these horrifying outbursts of hatred are not from the bottom up. They are from the top down,91裸聊视频� he said.
Monday91裸聊视频檚 events took place against a backdrop of escalating hostilities in the Middle East.
Hamas, which remains in control of the bombarded Gaza Strip, marked the anniversary by firing a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv.
Lebanon91裸聊视频檚 Hezbollah vowed to keep up its own rocket fire despite recent losses in southern Lebanon, where Israel has been mounting a ground incursion.
