Calgary community hosts uplifting Walk for Israel

by Maxine Fischbein

(AJNews) – The Calgary Jewish community came out in droves for the Sunday July 28 Walk for Israel, organized by Calgary Jews Stand United in partnership with Beth Tzedec Congregation, Calgary Jewish Federation and Jewish National Fund (JNF). The event was endorsed by a broad base of additional Jewish organizations including Na’amat Canada, Paperny Family JCC Calgary, Allied Voices for Israel, StandWithUs Canada, Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, Halpern Akiva Academy, Disabled Veterans of Israel Canada, Temple B’nai Tikvah, Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, The Calgary Jewish Academy, Camp BB Riback and Canadian Magen David Adom.

The major sponsor for the walk was the Balaban family. Darren and Marnie Bondar and family provided a generous gift that helped to bring American entrepreneur and social media influencer Caroline D’Amore to address attendees during a feel-good event that featured empowering messages by CJSU co-founder and leader Ortal Luzon, Calgary Jewish Federation Interim CEO Diana Kalef and JNF Calgary Executive Director Elliott Steinberg. Rounding out the experience was Israeli music by Steinberg, Beth Tzedec Congregation Executive Director Ari Cohen, Anna Bagdasairian, Vered Pollock and Greg Storozhakov.

A crowd estimated to be between 650 and 1000 individuals gathered at and returned to Beth Tzedec following a walk through the adjoining neighbourhood of Meadowlark. Most in the crowd were clad in kachol v’lavan—blue and white—many bearing Israeli and Canadian flags and sporting event T-shirts given to those who made donations to CJSU.

A source of comfort and support were non-Jewish participants including First Nations, Christian and Iranian allies.

Prior to leading the Canadian and Israeli national anthems, Beth Tzedec Senior Rabbi Russell Jayne invited participants to observe a moment of silence dedicated to the memory of the 12 Druze children and teens killed one day earlier, when an Iranian-made rocket fired from Lebanon hit a soccer pitch in Majdal Shams, a Druze town located in Israel’s Northern Golan heights.

Despite mounting losses since the October 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists, which immediately resulted in the murder of 1,200 Israelis, the wounding of 3,300 and the kidnapping of 250 to Gaza (where some 120, dead and alive, remain captive) organizers were committed to creating an event that would celebrate Israel while emphasizing resiliency, community solidarity and Jewish pride.

Mission Accomplished!  Despite the community’s worry for the people of Israel, and fear in the face of increasing antisemitism worldwide, the tone of the Walk for Israel was, remarkably, one of hope for the future.

Solace was certainly found in the support of allies like Borzumehr Toloui, formerly of Iran.

“We see Israel as our ally because of a shared history of 2,700 years of peace,” Toloui told AJNews prior to the walk.

“We have a common enemy, which is the regime in Iran…a formidable enemy,” Toloui said. “We share the grief of the Israeli people because we have had the same experience. In Iran just two years ago with the mass uprising, I’m sure people remember Iranian boys and girls, young girls, were being killed in the streets.”

At first Iranians felt support, including that of some high-profile celebrities, Toloui said, adding, “It was soon forgotten.”

“The only country and the only people that actually stood with us and didn’t forget it up to this day are the Israelis,” Toloui said. “The Israeli ambassador was the only one in the UN who stood up and protested against the presence of the Iranian regime officials last year and this year…. We don’t forget that.”

“In the UN they now even raise the flag and lower the flag for the Iranian regime’s so-called president who is known in Iran as the butcher of Tehran because he was engaged in massacre,” added Toloui, whose family had warm ties with Jews in their native Iran.

“We are both victims of the same criminal entity, so it’s very natural for Iranians around the world to stand with Israel.”

“We are here to show we will not hide,” CJSU leader Ortal Luzon told participants during her passionate address following the walk.

“They will try to scare us away with their large numbers and violent ways, but they will not succeed. We keep moving forward, refusing to engage in their tactics and showing the world the difference between us and them.”

“…Our support for Israel remains strong…. We have faced hatred and violence with courage and resilience, never allowing ourselves to feel defeated,” Luzon added.

“Our walk today is a walk of solidarity, a walk of hope, a walk of light. It is a reminder that we are connected by a shared history, a shared destiny, and a shared commitment to a better future.”

“But it is also a call to action,” said Luzon. “It is a call to continue advocating for Israel, to continue educating others about the realities and challenges it faces and to continue supporting efforts towards peace and co-existence. It is a call to stand against antisemitism and all forms of hatred and bigotry, to ensure that our voices are heard loud and clear.”

“This event is not just a solidarity walk. It is a testament…to the strength and resilience and unity of our community,” said Calgary Jewish Federation Interim Executive Director Diana Kalef, adding, “We have taken every measure to provide a safe environment for today’s event and for all our activities.

“Together we can create an inclusive and vibrant community where everyone feels welcomed and valued. Your participation today is a powerful reminder of the strength we draw from each other.”

Caroline D’Amore’s remarks centred, as her name might suggest, on the power of love.

“A community of people who, rightfully so, could be extremely angry and hateful and aggressive are instead peaceful and bright lights and just this like ball of joy,” D’Amore, owner of Pizza Girl Inc., said. “I get so much love that it completely outweighs and outshines the hate.”

D’Amore urged those who feel depleted by hateful messages on social media to simply “block and delete them.”

“They’re not worth your time,” said D’Amore who suggests instead that we “…give loving messages all our time.”

“I didn’t know a thing that was going on in the Middle East before October 7,” said D’Amore. “In my privileged bubble, I never dealt with antisemitism or anything like that….I was shocked when I saw what it was.”

“Everyone kept saying to me, ‘Go educate yourself… so I got on a plane and I went to Israel,” said D’Amore, who has traveled there twice since October 7.

During her visits she spent time with IDF soldiers on the Lebanese and Syrian borders, visited survivors at hospitals and healing centres, and spent time with hostage families, she said. “The only education I needed was meeting the people of Israel—talking to them, getting to know them, hearing their stories, seeing through the lies and the bullshit.”

“It made me feel so sure that I am on the right side of history,” she added.

“I’m not converting, by the way,” D’Amore quipped. “I’m getting married now to an Israeli man now, though, so yay!”

“I have to say, something as bad as everything that has happened in the world has brought myself and this man very close, and I do try to find the light in the darkness. And I think that’s why maybe we connect, because I find that the Jewish community finds the light in the darkness, time and time and time again,” said D’Amore, whose halo of pink hair reinforced her advice to radiate light in the world.

D’Amore said she spent time with members of the Druze community on her trips to Israel, at one point just a couple of yards away from the soccer field where the 12 young people were killed in the deadliest attack on Israeli soil since October 7.

D’Amore says the Druze welcomed her and taught her a lot about why they love Israel.

“All of Israel is beautiful,” she said.

While community members encountered hateful graffiti scrawled on walls and pavement along the Walk for Israel route, and some angry honking and shouts from a few Palestinian sympathizers, by and large, Calgarians were supportive, some waving, tooting their horns or offering encouragement from their yards or front steps.

Volunteer marshals at every intersection along the route kept marchers on the derech while helping to ensure fellow citizens were not disrupted in their comings and goings. Plainclothes security was imbedded in the crowd.

No major incidents were reported, though on the morning of the walk police removed chains that were put in place by would-be disrupters on the pedestrian bridge over Glenmore Trail.

Both Calgary Jewish Federation and Beth Tzedec Congregation have been in constant contact with police regarding the hateful messages painted on public property in close proximity to the Synagogue and The Calgary Jewish Academy.

In an email to congregants, Beth Tzedec President Jeff Dworkin and CEO David Inhaber said, in part, “This act was intended to spread fear, but our community’s strength shone through during our successful Walk for Israel, showcasing our unity and resolve to combat antisemitism.”

Despite the predictable and cowardly attempts to instill fear, the Walk for Israel was a positive and uplifting experience. Calgarians can look forward to more of the same, says Luzon, who plans to continue organizing events and programs in partnership with other community organizations. Watch for details in future issues of AJNews and on these websites:

Calgary Jews Stand United, www.cjsu.ca.

Calgary Jewish Federation, www.jewishcalgary.org.

Beth Tzedec Congregation, www.bethtzedec.ca.

JNF (Jewish National Fund), www.jnf.ca/calgary.

 Maxine Fischbein is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Alberta Jewish News.