Canadian pleads for cousin’s release
TORONTO • Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities are ongoing against hostages held in Gaza, and Canadians should push Ottawa to do more to expedite the return of Israelis held by the terror group, a Canadian cousin of one hostage told a Toronto rally Wednesday.
“On Oct. 7, at the Nova Festival, in the kibbutz, (Hamas) was raping, mutilating and destroying the souls and bodies of women, elderly and men and they’re still doing that,” said Maayan Shavit, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was captured on Oct. 7. “It’s not a one-time rape or a one-time lesson. It’s happening now, as we speak. The (hostages) that have returned, they tell their stories of the women that are still left behind and people are still not willing to accept it ... People are walking like horses (with blinders on ...) They prefer to close their eyes and continue to be bystanders without understanding that it’s happening now.”
A 39-year-old occupational therapist and yoga practitioner from Tel Aviv, Gat was visiting her parents near the border with Gaza when Hamas attacked, killing her mother and kidnapping her. Her brother and his daughter were able to escape, while her sister-in-law was released during a pause in fighting in November. Hostages who interacted with Gat and who were released said that she is being held with children and, to make them feel safe, was practising yoga once a day with them, according to a Times of Israel article.
The rally, held in Toronto by Canadians for Israel, featured 14 women, representing the 14 women still being held hostage, with bound hands, a cloth mouth gag and bloodied sweatpants mirroring those in a widely circulated video believed to be 19-year-old Naama Levy being led away by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Passersby were given a heart-shaped card with a picture of a hostage on one side and on the other the message: “Our hearts are broken, read their stories. Bring them home NOW!” The heart also has a QR code to a Times of Israel article detailing all the remaining hostages.
Another QR code stapled to the heart-shaped card takes you to a document with the contact information for Toronto-area MPS, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Minister of Women Marci Ien.
“The only thing that is going to help is if people call out, speak to their government officials, and at the government level, urge them to speak out,’ said Daphna Pollak, the rally organizer.
“Because they have to pressure the international community and they have to say to Hamas, ‘Release the hostages.’ We don’t hear (them) doing enough on any level, anything that we’ve heard from the Canadian government feels like lip service, it feels like a minimum to fulfil some basic requirement.”