WINNIPEG — A community rally in support of the residents of Sderot, who have been bombarded with unceasing Qassam rockets by Hamas terrorists, was held here on March 11 at the Berney Theatre.
Tzafi Weinberg, an Israeli living in Winnipeg who is an art therapist
for kids, initiated the idea as a way of helping Sderot’s children. “I
have been thinking of what the children of Sderot are undergoing, and
wanted to find a way of supporting them,” Weinberg said.
Rally organizer Tzafi Weinberg stands in front of a card for Sderot residents.
Weinberg contacted Ron East of Canada Sheli – a Winnipeg group for expatriate Israelis – who, along with other Israelis living here, began to organize the event in conjunction with the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and others.
“This was a real grassroots initiative,” East said.
Money raised from the rally will go to the Helping Hands Initiative, which will buy TVs, DVDs, activity kits, video game consoles and cellphones for children in Sderot bomb shelters.
“The equipment will be purchased from Sderot businesses so as to help the local economy,” Weinberg said.
Rally participants were asked to wear red. “The siren that goes off in Sderot when there is an incoming rocket attack is called ‘tzevah adom’ [colour red] and that is why we asked people to wear red,” Weinberg said. “The siren initially was called “shachar adom” [red dawn], but it was changed so children with the name Shachar wouldn’t have a negative connotation associated with their name.”
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal spoke to the rally via a recorded video message, and he thanked the community “for everything you are doing for the people of Sderot.”
Manitoba’s minister of water stewardship, Christine Melnick – who has been to Israel numerous times to develop a Jewish National Fund scholarship program for graduate students from Manitoba pursuing water-related studies in Israel – addressed the gathering on behalf of the provincial NDP government.
“It is very important that we stand together as Jewish and non-Jewish people and that we say that this [the firing of Qassams on Sderot] has to stop and that Israel does have the right to defend itself,” she said.
Melnick also noted that “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and the only state in the Middle East where I as a woman could be a member of a government.”
Conservative MP Joy Smith (Kildonan-St. Paul) sent a letter in which she echoed the words of Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, who recently said: “It is clear that Hamas and other groups responsible for the growing number of rockets fired on Israel are determined to target civilians and create even more instability and misery. These actions are deplorable. Canada calls on those groups to stop immediately for the sake of those suffering both in the Gaza Strip and in Israel.”
Liberal MP Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre) sent a letter with greetings from Liberal leader Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party of Canada.
NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) wrote a letter expressing his solidarity with the residents of Sderot and people of Israel.
“I can’t think of any other country in the world that has shown such restraint and discipline in the face of regular acts of military aggression against it, and yet it is often Israel who gets blamed when the conflict escalates and they react in defence of their citizens. Friends of Israel cannot remain silent in the face of such unfairness,” he wrote.
NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North) sent a message “of courage to the people of Sderot as well as a show of support for the State of Israel and its right to self defence.”
The president of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, Jonathon Kroft, also addressed the gathering.
“We are here to encourage peace loving people in Gaza to persuade their Hamas government to stop attacking innocent civilians of Sderot,” he said, adding that “we will have progress” when the murder of Jews in a yeshiva “isn’t celebrated in the streets of Gaza.”
A video titled “Children of Sderot Just Want Peace” was shown. Guitarist Cindy Bass sang a number of Hebrew songs throughout the event, ending with Yehiyeh Tov, a song of hope written by Israeli pop star David Broza.
Retired IDF Colonel Yoram East also spoke, saying: “When a rocket flies over the people of Sderot, it’s a rocket that flies over us too.”
East said a video of the event is being made, and “we are going to send the Mayor of Sderot a report of everything that has happened here.”
Participants were also asked to sign a large card of support for Sderot residents that will be sent with the money raised.