CELEBRATION OF ISRAEL
Thousands flock downtown
As a Holocaust survivor who avoided the Nazis by hiding in a barn for 14 months, 85-year-old Sidney Zoltak was delighted as he watched hundreds of Jewish students dancing and singing during Israeli Independence Day celebrations in Montreal.
“It’s so nice to see the enthusiasm,” Zoltak said on Tuesday. “When we mourn, we mourn with our heart and soul, but when celebrate the anniversary, we do it with heart, soul and dance and song.”
Zoltak and thousands of other Jewish Montrealers gathered in Phillips Square to celebrate the founding of Israel in 1948. “The fact that we have a state is very significant,” said Zoltak, who is from a town in northeast Poland.
Of the 7,000 Jews who lived in Zoltak’s hometown of Siemiatycze, only 70 survived the Holocaust, including Zoltak and his parents. All his classmates and several members of his father’s family perished at the Treblinka death camp.
When Zoltak isn’t taking part in the March of the Living, a trip students make to Poland to learn about the Holocaust, he makes a point of attending the annual rally in Montreal.
Music blared from a flatbed truck and a sea of Israeli, Canadian and Quebec flags fluttered in the breeze as participants celebrated. Others mingled in the square, greeting friends, neighbours and old schoolmates.
As she has done for the past several years, Cheryl Solomon arrived early to hand out flags. “I love helping out and celebrating Israel’s existence,” said Solomon, who is thrilled that there will be direct flights from Montreal to Tel Aviv this summer.
Hundreds of students from Jewish schools across Montreal were on hand for the rally. Shira Aflalo, 17, a student at Herzliah High School, said it’s important for the Jewish community in Montreal to support Israel.
Andre Thomas, another volunteer, said he believes Jews need to stand up for Israel because it’s often seen as a “bad country.” In fact, he said, Israel is a leader in the world, in science and a democracy in the Middle East.
Many streets around Phillips Square were closed to traffic, and there was a heavy police presence around the square. When Janet Bitton got off the bus, she thanked a group of officers for keeping the rally safe.
Bitton said she attends the celebrations every year to show her support for Israel. She said she’s dismayed there are so many antiIsraeli groups “who are forceful.”
After the rally in Phillips Square, the crowd marched along René Lévesque Blvd. to Place du Canada where there was more entertainment.
Heidi Sederoff came to the rally from Dollard-des-Ormeaux because she has a strong attachment to Israel and its people.
“I love to do this for Israel,” said Sederoff, who had an Israeli flag around her shoulders.
“They stand on the front line to keep us safe.”