Several Calgarians have returned from a trip to Israel as part of the Canadian National Leadership Solidarity Mission.
On Friday, they joined volunteers in downtown Calgary, hoping to get the message out about the many hostages who are still left behind.
The faces of men, women and children being held hostage by Hamas are on the milk cartons being handed out on Stephen Avenue in Calgary.
It’s a message from members of Calgary’s Jewish community about the ongoing struggle in Israel to bring loved ones home.
“We wanted to find a way to have a conversation with Calgarians about the hostages and about Oct. 7 and the fact that more than 1,400 people were murdered that there are still hostages of all ages,” said Lisa Libin president of the Calgary Jewish Federation.
Libin was part of a delegation of dozens of people including five MPs — two Liberal and three Conservative — who were in Israel this week.
They met with government officials and visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz near the Gaza border that saw members killed on Oct. 7 by Hamas.
“It’s imprinted on you. You can’t hear the stories or go to the kibbutz without seeing the atrocities and see entire parts of the village burned down and see grenade remnants and see the blood and smell it.
“You can’t go and be unchanged. You also can’t go and not see the resilience and the morale and commitment to living life and not letting these terrorists defeat us. It gives me great hope for the future,” said Calgary Jewish Federation CEO Adam Silver, who was also on the trip.
“I’ve come home both inspired and I’ve come home angry. I’ve come home angry that I’m now dealing with the hate and the anti-Semitism that we’re dealing with here over a political issue that we don’t have any say in,” Libin said.
She said her community is scared and upset when they should be focused on the trauma and the issues that are happening to family and friends in Israel.
“They said we are strong. We are united and strong as ever. We just need to get our hostages back and it’s not a message of hate. There was never hate there towards anyone except Hamas,” Libin said.
She said they were honoured to have the MPs that were there, adding they have “been on our side from day one.”
A spokesperson at Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East says there’s nothing wrong with members of parliament visiting a region which is facing conflict, but Michael Bueckert is calling the tour “one-sided.”
“This was not a fact-finding mission to come up with an assessment of the facts on the ground, but a show of support for Israel’s ongoing war, which has created a catastrophic humanitarian situation,” Bueckert said.
“In this moment, we urgently need the Canadian government to be on the side of peace, on restraint.
“Unfortunately, this trip by MPs is designed to be pushing in the other direction. To counter the calls for peace and to counter the calls for restraint, and to continue to get the government to give political support for this war, but at what cost?” Bueckert said.