Montreal event marking Israel's national day overshadowed by regional war

Every year, thousands of Jewish Montrealers gather at Place du Canada to celebrate Israel's national day, but this year there was no march and a lot more security.

Every year, thousands of Jewish Montrealers gather at Place du Canada to celebrate Israel's national day, but this year there was no march and a lot more security.

Organizers say with the war going on in Gaza and 130 Israeli hostages still unaccounted for, they had a dilemma.

"We had a big decision of whether to celebrate or not, but everyone believes we have something to celebrate," said Michael Druckman, the event's co-organizer.

Although there was some singing and dancing, there was also a moment of silence for those killed and still missing since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

It was also an opportunity for people to show their colours — some like Richard Lion had never done that before.

"It's more of a need for us to express our support publicly. We support Israel privately and personally and this year for obvious reasons there was a need for us to demonstrate this publicly to show our community and the city in which we live, and the politicians, that these things are important to us as Canadians," Lion said.

The criticism of Israel was been loud and there was a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators across the street.