Hundreds gather at Vancouver Art Gallery to mark one month since Hamas attack

Members of the Jewish community and supporters lit around 1,500 candles to mark one month since Hamas attacked Israel.

A sombre gathering of more than 1,000 people was held outside the Vancouver Art Gallery Tuesday to mark one month since the horrific Hamas attack in Israel.

Members of the Jewish community and supporters gathered and lit around 1,500 candles.

“One for each of the people that were murdered by Hamas 30 days ago,” Rabbi Dan Moskovitz said.

Attendees held signs showing the names and photos of the hundreds of people who are believed to be missing in the region.

“We are still missing more than 240 hostages who are in Gaza right now,” said Ezra Shanken, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s CEO.

“I think that it’s important for people to remember that Hamas is not the Palestinian people and that I believe in my heart if we stood together and gave support to liberate the Palestinians from this genocidal terrorist group and give them a possible positive future … I think the world would be a better place.”

Even though B.C. is more than 10,000 kilometres away from the ongoing conflict, officials said antisemitic incidents are on the rise.

B.C. human rights commissioner Kasari Govender said in a statement that she is deeply concerned about the rising number of hate incidents and she called for “immediate and sustained action” to address and prevent further incidents.