Israeli exchange students learn of devastating terror attacks at home while staying with Winnipeg hosts

A group of Israeli high schoolers visiting Winnipeg is struggling to make sense of the shocking bloodshed committed by terrorists in their emotionally shattered, grief-stricken country last weekend.

Accompanied by two teachers and their principal, a dozen Grade 12 students from Danciger touched down at the Winnipeg airport last Wednesday to spend time with peers at Gray Academy of Jewish Education, their Canadian sister school.

The two schools participate in an annual exchange through Partnership 2Gether, an international network that promotes relationship-building between Israeli communities and Jewish diasporas in North America.

The delegation learned of the violence mainly targeting civilians committed by Hamas terrorists late Friday and early Saturday. More than 1,200 Israelis have been murdered or have gone missing. Friends, family members and teachers have been called up for military reserve duties.

They had been scheduled to return home Thursday, but air traffic in and out of the region has been affected by the Israeli government’s declaration of war and near-constant rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

“There are multiple complex layers to this that I can only imagine are as emotionally draining and taxing as a human can undergo,” said Ben Carr, Liberal MP in Winnipeg South Centre.

Carr met with the visitors and their exchange hosts at Gray Academy — located his riding — to and found out about their long-standing partnership and the Israeli students’ uncertain return plans.

The delegation is from Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city, located near the border with Lebanon, from where more rockets have been launched into the country by Hezbollah terrorists.

“The atrocities took place in the south but there’s tremendous uncertainty around what’s going to happen around the Lebanese border, which is not far from home for these kids and these educators,” Carr said.

Given the situation on the ground in the Middle East is rapidly evolving, there will be a degree of uncertainty and related anxiety as the students attempt to return home over the course of the coming days, he added.

Canada is cautioning residents to avoid non-essential travel to Israel. Air Canada is among the major carriers across the world that suspended service to Tel Aviv and other Israeli destinations in the wake of the attacks.

Billet families are looking after the students, said Andrea Ritter, communications director for Gray Academy.

“Our Danciger students are off site for a much-needed recreational outing today,” Ritter said in an email Wednesday.

Lori Binder, head of school, was not made available for comment Wednesday.

Members of Manitoba’s Jewish community gathered on the religious private school’s campus around dusk Tuesday to find solace in speeches and pray for friends and relatives abroad who have been wounded, captured and killed during the invasion.

“For the last 26 years, we are coming here, student and teachers, to Gray Academy, to the Jewish community, to strength (our) bond,” Danciger principal Ofer Zafrani told the crowd.

The school leader said recent events have only reiterated for him the importance of building relationships among Jewish communities.

“Today, I can say that I feel how it is important to be together. It give us power. It give us strength to stand in this awful, this nightmare that we are having,” he said, noting his brother, friends and former students were captured amid the chaos.

The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg organized the event to show “a united display of love and support for Israel and its citizens.”

One day earlier, “Free Palestine” supporters mobilized under the Peace Alliance Winnipeg banner to call attention to inhumane living conditions in the Gaza Strip. Counter-protesters condemned the action organized in the wake of the Hamas rampage.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed on both sides. The overall death toll has surpassed 2,300.

Carr was among the politicians who spoke at the Winnipeg vigil, during which he condemned the murders, kidnappings and sexual assaults that happened en masse on Saturday. He also called on attendees to commend the tourists from Danciger.

“They have been stuck here, away from their home as they have watched the brutal events unfold in their home country,” he said. “But they have remained resilient, brave and courageous in the face of it.”

This story was originally published in The Free Press. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.