On this solemn anniversary, Ottawa Life Magazine dedicates this op-ed to the memory of the victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre. We stand in unwavering solidarity with Ottawa’s Jewish community, which has been an integral part of this city’s soul since its founding. You are not alone. Across Ottawa and Canada, countless non-Jewish citizens stand beside you—with compassion, conviction, and outrage—against those who threaten you, betray you, or remain silent in the face of rising hate.
Ottawa’s Jewish community has been woven into the city’s fabric since its earliest days as Bytown. Today, more than 13,500 Jewish residents call the capital home, contributing across every sector—from law and medicine to education, business, and public service. The community’s roots trace back to Moses Bilsky, who arrived in the 1850s and helped lay the foundation for Jewish life in the region. Bilsky opened a pawn shop and jewellery store on Rideau Street, hosted the city’s first Jewish prayer services in his home, and helped establish Adath Jeshurun, Ottawa’s first synagogue. Over the decades, Jewish Ottawans built thriving businesses in the ByWard Market, founded charitable organizations, and shaped civic life. Their legacy includes not only economic and cultural leadership but also institutions like the Soloway Jewish Community Centre and the Ottawa Jewish Archives, which preserve and celebrate a vibrant heritage that remains central to the city’s identity.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, murdering over 1,200 civilians and abducting hundreds. Among the dead were eight Canadians: Ben Mizrahi, Vivian Silver, Judih Weinstein Haggai, Adi Vital-Kaploun, Alexandre Look, Neta Epstein, Shir Georgy and Tiferet Lapidot. None were rescued. None remain hostage. And yet, their memory has been treated as a footnote in Canada’s foreign policy—a tragic inconvenience rather than a moral imperative.
Two years later, Prime Minister Mark Carney unilaterally recognized the State of Palestine. No vote in Parliament. No public debate. No conditions. Just a sweeping diplomatic gift to a regime that celebrated the October 7 massacre as a victory—a day when Hamas terrorists butchered families in their homes, burned children alive, raped women beside the corpses of their loved ones, and paraded hostages through the streets like trophies. It was not a military operation—it was a festival of sadism. And Canada responded not with outrage, but with recognition.
This betrayal isn’t just geopolitical—it’s personal. Since October 7, antisemitism in Canada has surged to record levels. B’nai Brith Canada reported over 5,800 antisemitic incidents in 2024 alone—the highest ever recorded. Ottawa has not been spared. The Jewish community here has faced a relentless wave of intimidation and violence. A 70-year-old Jewish woman was stabbed at a local grocery store in broad daylight. Jewish schools have received bomb threats. Synagogues have been defaced with swastikas. Jewish students have been harassed on campus. And visibly Jewish individuals have been assaulted in public spaces. These are not isolated incidents—they are part of a national pattern of escalating hate, met with institutional indifference.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protests in Ottawa have devolved into hate-filled spectacles. Masked agitators scream genocidal slogans like “From the river to the sea,” call for violence against Jews, and intimidate bystanders with aggressive chants and mob tactics. These are not peaceful demonstrations—they are public displays of antisemitic incitement. At many of these rallies, protesters have shouted “Kill the Jews” and “F*** the Jews” with a level of bravado and menace that is breathtaking. Politicians and police have allowed these mobs to weaponize the Charter of Rights and Freedoms—twisting protections for free expression into shields for hate speech and threats against a vulnerable minority. Cowardly, face-covered thugs scream through the streets ‘protesting’—emboldened by thier impunity and unchecked hate.And yet, police stand by. City council stays silent. The federal government looks away.
This betrayal has been amplified by Canada’s publicly funded broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada, which has abandoned journalistic integrity and allowed antisemitism to fester unchecked. On October 7, as Hamas terrorists livestreamed the beheading of Jews, the gang rape of women, and the burning of babies, CBC management instructed its journalists not to call them “terrorists,” but “militants.” This, despite Hamas being listed as a terrorist organization by Canada since 2002. The cognitive dissonance at the Mother Corp is staggering. Euphemisms in the face of savagery aren’t journalism—they’re complicity.
Since then, CBC has repeatedly vilified Jews and twisted the truth:
These aren’t isolated missteps. They reflect a deeper rot. Honest Reporting Canada has documented over 130 cases of misreporting by CBC and other legacy outlets since October 7—ranging from factual errors to ideological bias and antisemitic framing. CBC has forfeited objectivity and become a mouthpiece for extremist propaganda. It has normalized antisemitic tropes, marginalized Jewish Canadians, and betrayed the public trust and the very principles it was created to uphold.
Prime Minister Carney’s recognition of Palestine was not just reckless—it was authoritarian. He leads a minority government, yet he enacted a major foreign policy shift without democratic legitimacy. The decision ignored the victims of October 7, ignored the threat Hamas still poses, and ignored the Jewish Canadians who now live in fear.
It also ignored history. Canada once stood for moral clarity. It helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It condemned terror and defended the vulnerable. Today, it rewards terror and abandons its own citizens.
Further fueling this hate are Canadian universities that have become ideological echo chambers, where cultural Marxism and postcolonial theory distort reality. Hamas is framed as resistance. Israel is cast as a colonial aggressor. Jewish students are harassed, silenced, and told their trauma is political.
The media echoes these distortions, downplaying antisemitism and amplifying narratives that justify terror. The result is a society where truth is negotiable, and Jewish suffering is disposable.
Canada has not advanced peace. It has not protected its citizens. It has not honoured its dead. It has rewarded Hamas for its brutality, ignored the hostages, and emboldened those who chant for genocide in its capital.
This is not diplomacy. It is a moral collapse.
But let us be clear: Ottawa Life Magazine stands firmly with Canada’s Jewish community, with Ottawa’s Jewish families, and with the Jewish people worldwide. We stand with Israel—the only democracy in the Middle East, a nation vilified for defending its citizens against the barbarism of Hamas. We reject the inversion of truth that casts the victims as villains and the terrorists as freedom fighters.
To Ottawa’s Jewish community: you are not alone. You are cherished, respected, and defended. Your history is Canada’s history. Your pain is our pain. And your future must be one of safety, dignity, and pride.
