Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney became visibly emotional during a private early-morning visit on June 9 to the Toronto exhibition memorializing the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel’s Nova Music Festival. The exhibition, which includes artifacts from the massacre site where 410 people, including 378 young festivalgoers, were killed, deeply affected Carney, who knelt and left a personal inscription beside a poster of Canadian victim Judi Weinstein Haggai.
Carney’s visit came a day after the exhibit’s original closing date and hours before news broke of the vandalism of Canada’s Holocaust memorial in Ottawa. The prime minister condemned the act and emphasized the need to confront rising antisemitism both in Canada and globally.
After walking through reproductions of bomb shelters and hearing stories of Canadian and Israeli victims, Carney reflected on the horrors witnessed, stating: “We can’t look away from this hate… We will fight to protect Jewish communities at home, and advocate for long-term peace and security in the Middle East.”
The exhibit’s organizers say Carney’s visit, though only 50 minutes, was powerful. Survivors like Eliya Cohen, who was kidnapped and later released from Gaza, left their own inscriptions, sharing chilling accounts of survival. Organizer Jesse Brown expressed hope more cabinet members will attend before the exhibit closes on June 22.
Swifteradio.com
