Community leaders commend resilience of volunteers after Edmonton Heritage Festival threat

Questions raised over code of conduct violations after protest, incident

By Mark Cooper

(AJNews) – Edmonton’s Jewish leaders are commending the resilience of volunteers, performers, allies and attendees who stood firm against intimidation and a security threat at this year’s Heritage Festival.

The praise follows a tense final day marked by a loud anti-Israel protest and a frightening security threat that led to the apprehension of a knife-wielding man who allegedly attempted to force his way into the Israeli pavilion.

Despite the dangerous situation, witnesses say the community’s pride and unity shone through at the event billed as one of the world’s largest multicultural celebrations, held annually at Edmonton’s William Hawrelak Park.

“We as a community don’t let adversity change our determination to exist and to spread joy,” said Ashley Kravetsky, the emcee for the Israeli pavilion.

“The people who were there were examples of our resilience, examples of our joy and we just all came together and embraced each other and enjoyed each other’s company and celebrated who we are.

“And I think that’s what Heritage Days is supposed to be and we weren’t going to let anybody tell us different,” she said of the event that features the food, music and traditions of over 100 countries.

Stacey Leavitt-Wright, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton agreed that the community shone through the darkness of the protest and some tense moments that forced pavilion volunteers and performers to shelter in place while the area was secured following the incident and the alleged perpetrator’s apprehension. Some 70 volunteers and 30-plus performers attended the Israeli pavilion over the weekend.

Protests and Security Threat Disrupt Festival

Leavitt-Wright said the incident occurred in the middle of the loud gathering of several dozen protestors that began in the early afternoon of Aug. 3.

The protest aimed to shut down the Israeli pavilion – a 47-year fixture at the festival – was organized by Palestinian Students Alliance (PSA) MacEwan, Independent Jewish Voices Edmonton and other collaborators and featured chants such as “One solution – revolution” and “All Zionists are racists.”

One protestor wearing a shirt with an upside-down red triangle – a Hamas symbol that signifies targeting the enemy for elimination – could be seen on video posted on social media shouting “Israel does not exist. It’s a fake state” and alleging “Israel has genocided (sic) 700,000 Palestinians.”

Leavitt-Wright said the acts of intimidation began even before the event started when anti-Israel activists posted photos online of volunteers setting up the Israeli pavilion.

“I don’t know if this was psyops (psychological operations) or something, but it was pretty disgusting,” she said.

She said the incident that followed during the festival was the real-world consequences of what happens when hate is allowed to be normalized.

“I’m not saying this group came out to do violent action but when people hear this kind of language and rhetoric there’s a normalization, a permissiveness that happens, people internalize the messaging and are inspired to take action,” she said, adding she doesn’t know if the alleged perpetrator was one of the protest group or a lone actor.

Security Subdues Knife-Wielding Intruder

The incident began just as Leavitt-Wright’s husband Erin Wright was starting a shift in the kitchen of the pavilion and was at the back entrance of the kitchen tent.

It was then that Wright came upon the man who had breached the security fencing and “interacted with him,” said Leavitt-Wright. Within seconds private pavilion security joined and brought the situation under control.

A video posted to social media, taken by a customer ordering food, shows what looks like a terrifying shadow puppet display of a man appearing to attempt to slash the tent and then be restrained.

Another video posted online shows the pavilion security members taking the man away.

As of press time, police have yet to lay charges against the man.

“Members of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) who were working at Heritage Fest became aware of an incident at the Israeli Pavilion and are investigating,” said EPS Spokesperson Nancy Carlson.

The incident and protest raise questions about the organizers’ preparedness for such aggression and whether the protest violated the festival’s code of conduct, which prohibits “any behavior that creates a hostile or unwelcoming environment.”

“I believe the code of conduct was violated,” said Leavitt-Wright, who approached directors in the middle of the protest to tell them that.

“I feel that the atmosphere was one of harassment and intimidation. The intention was clear. They stated it before. They wanted to shut us down. This was not in keeping with the spirit of the festival.”

Leavitt-Wright knows the festival has a lot to deal with and appreciated that some festival directors had good intentions of keeping the protest from getting out of hand by standing in the buffer zone between protestors and the pavilion.

But as more protestors showed up they were overwhelmed and efforts to negotiate with the protestors, rather than having them removed, failed.

Emcee Kravetsky, who is also chair of the Pride committee of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton and is involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy, was heartened by the support she saw during the protest.

Performers and Allies Defy Intimidation

She recounts how a group of Persian Canadians entered the Israeli tent, while she was working at a table with information about the Pride Festival in Tel Aviv and asked her for Israeli flags that they could wrap around themselves to act as buffers between the protestors and the pavilion.

“This Persian community was really adamant about creating this beautiful human chain with their flags as well as the Israel flag,” said Kravetsky.

“That was completely unexpected and really beautiful to see. The protestors were yelling ‘Free Palestine’ and these beautiful Persian people were yelling ‘From Hamas’ in retort. They were not going to let these protestors have their way.”

Neither were the Israel Pavilion performers from Shiru Hashir and Aviv dance groups, who continued to perform throughout the protest.

Despite some being yelled at by protestors accusing them of “committing genocide,” the dancers chose to perform.

“I looked at them and I said ‘if you don’t want to go on stage, it’s OK, we’ll shut this down but all of them went on, all of them danced beautifully with smiles on their faces with such pride, with such triumph,” said Leavitt-Wright.

“It was such a feeling of triumphant joy. This is what defines us. We’re going to decide what defines us. We’re going to live this and I’m just so proud of them.”

Melodie Greyeyes, an Indigenous Minister and dancer, joined the Shiru Hashir dance group several years ago as an ally to the Jewish community that she honours.

She said it was important to dance at the festival in the face of hate.

“We say we dance our prayers and I really feel there’s a power spiritually when we dance and I had to come alongside the Jewish people, especially as someone Indigenous to the land,” said Greyeyes.

“It is always light that conquers over darkness. Instead of coming against them (the protestors) just go higher.

“They want you to be hooked into their hate but you don’t. You just go higher.”

Leavitt-Wright has asked for a meeting with Heritage Festival board about several issues and one of them will be about the interpretation and application of the code of conduct.

Heritage Festival organizers did not return a call or respond to an email from the Alberta Jewish News about whether they felt the code of conduct was violated by the protest groups and collaborators and whether lessons were learned that can be applied to festivals in the future.

Leavitt-Wright knows the festival has a difficult job picking the many battles that can come up at the event.

She does everything that she can to ensure they give festival organizers respect and collaboration as they understand the monumental task of putting on the long-standing event.

That’s why when the Israeli pavilion was asked by festival organizers to take down its festive triangular pennant flags used to decorate the pavilion in years past, they obliged in respect of a rule that flags can’t be flown and must only be flat.

Meanwhile social media posts show pennant flags flying in the Palestinian pavilion and other pavilions during the festival.

Leavitt-Wright herself apologized to festival organizers after a streaming service playlist of Israeli music unexpectedly queued a Hebrew song that some might find politically offensive.

The song played during a highly chaotic period, when Israeli pavilion organizers quickly decided to play Israeli music to drown out the noise and uplift visitors.

“It’s not a song we would have chosen or played at the best of times. It came on, a volunteer heard it, realized what it was and ran over to get it changed. It played for about 20 seconds.

“We have sent an apology to Heritage Festival about this song and about how we will ensure in the future that there are vetted playlists at the ready so something like this does not happen again.”

Pavilion Showcases Culture, Not Politics

She regrets the error as the Israel pavilion organizers work diligently to ensure that nothing is politicized about the pavilion, which this year had a marketplace, a drip irrigation display, a talk on Israeli technological innovation, a large backdrop of landscapes of Israel, religious and cultural displays and the Tel Aviv Pride table among other displays.

“Nothing was political, just general facts about the country and about the people.”

Food available included a mixed Israeli salad plate with pita, bagels with cream cheese and lox, Hamantaschen and other Jewish and Israeli delicacies.

Leavitt-Wright says she continues to process her emotions about the festival but will not be deterred from coming back year after year as the event is so important to the community.

She said it’s hard not to be angry at the situation and that people had to be put through the ordeal and tested like they were.

“But there’s great pride that so many people showed up as volunteers and felt this was so important. So many people came to us who were just passersby said ‘I can’t believe what is going on here and we stand with you, we support you.’”

“There’s all these emotions at once, but I believe we have been able to pull this forward. That’s what we do. That’s who we are as Jews. We are resilient. We know this has happened before and we don’t let others define us and we’ve just got to double down on that.

“So as much as we are certainly investing in security, awareness and safety in the community, we also need to double down and invest in our kids and making sure they know who they are and feel proud about it.”

Mark Cooper is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Alberta Jewish News.