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Montreal nightlife fixtures explain how anti-Israel sentiment has impacted their passions
The burlesque performer
Yael Perez, a.k.a. Miss Meow, is no wallflower. Shaking her feathers, her curvy silhouette strutting deftly across a stage under the gaze and leers of 100 adoring sets of eyes, she smiles, almost sneering-like, into the dark space filled with tables of hollering fans, before offering a coquettish spin, shedding her gloves to a rhythmic drumbeat.
With her curvy silhouette, black hair, and fiery red lipstick, she once captivated audiences as a popular burlesque performer in Montreal.
But after Oct. 7, 2023, her career, like parts of her elaborate costumes, fell south.
Perez started modelling a decade ago and later embraced burlesque. It was a hit—she performed every weekend, with a steady social media following. Her late parents supported her career, but it was the burlesque community that turned its back on her.
An office manager for a property management firm, she had been up late when news of the attacks broke. “I freaked out,” she recalls, and while her family in Israel was safe, she quickly realized that many of her friends were unaware of the scale of the attack. As media coverage was slow to pick up, Perez began sharing screenshots from sources she trusted.
At first the reaction was of sincere interest, “but I noticed all these people looking at my posts and not a single one messaged me to ask if I’m OK, or about my family.”
Perez isn’t alone. Jewish and Israeli artists have watched as the progressive arts community turned their back and lost the support of their friends in the industry and seen projects and bookings be cancelled.
Even Montrealers whose art might not be their day jobs, but rather side hustles and occasional gigs have seen opportunities dry up.
Social media has been a powerful force since the attacks, starting with the live-streamed atrocities and continuing efforts to spread propaganda, solidarity, or division. Perez, who uses social media “authentically” in both her personal and professional life, says, “I’ve always been clear—I’m not just a ‘pretty person’ online. I’m a whole person, and I was open about being terrified and traumatized.”
What people didn’t realize was that this wasn’t just ‘news’ to her—she was worried for her family staying in bomb shelters. The lack of support from friends and colleagues in the progressive burlesque community felt dehumanizing. “No one checked in, and I noticed something else,” she recalls, her voice betraying a surge in emotion. “Some people began sharing antisemitic content right away. On Oct. 7, they were posting about ‘liberation.’ The same goddamned day.”
Performers she’d worked with for years, with whom she’d never discussed the Middle East, began retweeting pro-Palestinian accounts that were clearly part of a coordinated narrative. “They were celebrating, saying ‘Amazing job.’ I couldn’t believe they were justifying the attacks.” She tried explaining the impact on her family, but people doubled down, saying it didn’t matter.
Colleagues, including one scheduled to perform in her show, posted increasingly extreme comments. Perez called them out gently, only to hear, “I’ve watched documentaries, I have a nuanced view. Palestinian resistance is justified.” Perez could accept opposing views, but “you’re saying what happened to my people was deserved?” She felt horrified and unsafe, questioning if she could continue working with such people.
The concert reviewer
Amir Amozig also felt a shift after Oct. 7, though more subtly. While he didn’t face direct hostility or “Free Palestine” shrieks, he noticed a change in the atmosphere while continuing his decade-long gig reviewing local bands in Montreal’s west end.
By day, the 51-year-old works in accounts receivable for a telecommunications company, but at night, he and his pen and notepad are a staple at local bars, reviewing bands with his encyclopedic knowledge of rock, blues, and pop. “I was extremely traumatized by Oct. 7,” he said. “There was a deafening silence around me.”
Some musicians did make public statements minimizing the atrocities, which outraged him, and overall, he felt isolated in an industry that leans far left, even though he considers himself liberal. His mistrust led him to consider leaving, but Israeli family and musician friends reminded him of his passion for music. “If you let life’s challenges rob you of your passions, you’re giving in to what terrorists intended from the start,” they said.
Mindful of cancel culture, Amozig navigated it with care. He was shocked to see anti-Israel propaganda in some venues, including one that seemed a “pro-Hamas shrine” post-Oct. 7. “I never set foot there again.”
Though he felt isolated, he stayed in the music scene, feeling distanced from the Jewish activist community as it shifted right, but remained committed to traditional liberal values.
#WATCH: “We have a responsibility to be a voice for all the hostage families,” says Amir Amozig, as Montrealers gathered on Sunday to honour those who were killed in Israel during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. @swiddarassy reports.#Montreal #Quebechttps://t.co/9hiRkZ6iTI
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) October 6, 2024
Long before Oct. 7, he says, the arts community was strongly left-wing on issues like workers’ rights, racism, First Nations, women’s rights, the environment, and LGBTQ concerns. “The prevailing view framed the Middle East as an oppressor versus underdog conflict. While I disagree with some of their views on world events, I know many have a good heart, rooted in altruism, anti-militarism, and anti-nationalism,” which are core leftist values.
He severed ties however, with anyone justifying the events of Oct. 7, particularly those framing it in terms of oppressor and oppressed. “Some responses were reprehensible, while others came from a genuine concern for humanity.”
The flamenco dancer
Laurence Elmoznino, a 55-year-old public school teacher, was infuriated by the lack of knowledge and empathy she encountered after Oct. 7. “It was sheer stupidity,” she says, recalling the derision towards Israelis and the indifference to Jewish suffering that overshadowed one of her greatest passions.
A lifelong dancer, Elmoznino spent over a decade in ballet and has practiced flamenco for more than 20 years. Her first visit to Granada, Spain, felt like coming home, with flamenco’s connection to Jewish traditions through the shared history of persecuted Jews and Roma. “There was something very Jewish about it.”
Flamenco, with its intense footwork and lyrical expression, conveys raw emotions, from sexuality to passion, “but it’s not about being sexy,” she said. She loved the intensity and solidarity among the women she danced with.
“Flamenco here has a tight-knit community. We see the same faces everywhere—dancers from Spain for stages and shows. It’s intense with classes, practices, and performances.”
Fifteen months ago, she was performing with her group, loving every grueling moment. Then came Oct. 7. She watched the news, and “I thought my knees were going to buckle. In an instant, everything changed.”
As days passed, Elmoznino grew despondent, overwhelmed by pain for her community. “I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t want to dance. Many were still dancing, but I was in mourning.” Supported by a close-knit group of dancers and friends, she returned after weeks, receiving concern for her and her family. “But outside that small group, I’m still angry.”
After the Hamas attacks, she posted on social media about the slaughter, supporting Israel and sharing a photo from a volunteering mission. A dancer told her they could no longer be friends, saying she couldn’t support someone who “justifies terrorism.” Elmoznino was stunned. “Terrorism? Genocide? I had no idea she thought like this. I danced with her, she taught me, I saw her shows.” She responded firmly, calling her out: “How dare you? My family was in Gaza. You don’t get to lecture me about my people.”
This was coming from people she had known for 20 years, who knew her as a dedicated supporter and fundraiser for causes like helping fellow Montrealer Steve Maman working to free Yazidi women from ISIS captivity and supporting a Syrian refugee family. “I did the work—what have you done?”
She was furious and avoided classes. “I just couldn’t. It wasn’t just one teacher, but others voicing pride in seeing Tunisians shouting for resistance in Arabic or calling Gaza an open-air prison. It was too much.” This limited her dance opportunities and combined with knee injuries and the painful loss of a close friend, her flamenco career began to unravel. “I missed dancing, but my connection to Israel is deeper than anything, even flamenco. Every hostage, soldier, and family felt personal.”
It reaffirmed her deepest self-identity, with family roots in Spain as deep as her attachment to her Jewishness. In Granada, she met the late flamenco legend Mario Maya, who tapped her with his cane, asking, “Where are you from?” “Canada,” she replied. “No,” he laughed. “Where are you from?”
“When I shared my origins were in Córdoba, he said I resembled the local women, strengthening my sense of connection to the culture.” It reminded her that she was “La Sefardita.”
Yael Perez was proud of her achievements in burlesque, curating successful shows at Montreal venues like the Wiggle Room and Café Cleopatra, often selling out spaces for 100-120 people. But everything unraveled after Oct. 7.
“Burlesque isn’t a community, I always insisted. It’s a business,” she said, feeling vindicated “in a sick, painful way.”
Post-Oct. 7, many of her peers across Canada posted antisemitic content. “The worst was, ‘You deserve it.’” The idea that Israelis deserved to be pulled from their beds and slaughtered was mind-boggling. Perez had always supported causes like Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate, even paying festival fees for performers of colour. “I knew some people face barriers I didn’t. I felt a responsibility to help.” Yet, among the hundreds she supported, no one publicly voiced support for her. “A few privately reached out, but within weeks, they were sharing pro-Palestinian posts and calling me a genocide supporter who should be shunned.
“I was the only Israeli. There were a few Jewish performers, but in a progressive, woke space, a couple who shared my views stayed silent to avoid what I was dealing with.”
It started with artists bailing on shows, rumours spreading that she supported genocide. Even an Arab-Jewish performer she had supported told her, “I can’t be associated with you. I have to quit all your bookings. No hard feelings.”
The final blow came that December, when dancers at Café Cleo told her that nearly all of them had been harassed for working with her. “This was after about 20 people had already quit,” almost half the talent pool.
“I shed so many tears,” she recalls. “I found out nearly every artist who worked with me was harassed. I had a breakdown backstage and cried myself to sleep. That show made me realize I couldn’t stay in this industry anymore. I couldn’t keep giving to an industry that doesn’t appreciate me.”
She began receiving harassing messages, with her social media stories prompting waves of Palestinian flags and responses of “Fuck Israel! Fuck you!” and threats to protest her shows. Anti-Israel posters were plastered backstage, and she knew people brought Palestinian flags to disrupt other events in the city. She worried about how to keep the audience safe when people were using such aggressive, threatening language.
Her last pre-booked show was in May, but her final performance came in February 2024, at Café Cleo. There, a stack of postcards urging Trudeau to stop the genocide and support Gaza sat by the bar.
It was all devastating for Perez. “It turned my life upside down. Being a performer, producer, and model was central to my identity—now it’s all gone. I lost almost all my friends—people I’d planned futures with, thrown birthday parties for. Losing my career was huge, but losing friends was worse. It felt overwhelming, but I realized I need new, more meaningful connections—especially more Jewish friends.”
Did she err by quitting? “No. It’s unfortunate and sad, and I’m still grieving that loss, but it was the right thing because nobody deserves to be treated that way, to be bullied by peers, and harassed. I had the ability to remove myself. They’re going to be assholes forever. I don’t have to be there for it.”
Pivoting their perspectives
Music reviewer Amir Amozig found his voice for advocacy attending rallies after Oct. 7. His tight-knit circle remains strong, and now when covering a band with a Jewish performer, he feels a deeper connection. “If I know a musician is Jewish or Israeli, and shares my trauma, the bond is stronger.” He mentions a recent show by Israeli saxophonist Tevet Sela in Montreal. “There’s a bond you don’t have with others, and it makes you feel safe.”
Though quieter on advocacy than some, Amozig says no musician is unaware of his stance in Israel’s war. “They know where I stand, and so far, no major backlash. But I’m always aware of stories of cancellations, that chill in the air.”
For flamenco enthusiast Laurence Elmoznino, seeing fellow dancers celebrate murder and “Free Palestine” posters appearing around a studio dulled the shine on the art form she saw as her heritage. “I can’t get away from it anywhere, not even in my feel-good place. There’s even still a lot of antisemitism in Spain, where I got comments from indoctrinated types. I had a landlord who refused to believe I was Jewish, and a Spanish teacher asked me if a Palestinian child was standing in front of me, ‘would you shoot him’?”
Back in Montreal, she’s eyeing the calendar of flamenco events. “This stage I want to take, I know some of these women will be there. So fuck them, I’m going. I’m wearing my Magen David and standing right in front of your face.” Looking at it through a rear-view mirror, she says, “Their lack of intelligence repulsed me. I couldn’t get them to donate or support anything, and now they’re out picketing and protesting, denying rapes. They’re too far gone.”
These classes and events may be “much more their space than mine, but it is still my space because of my ancestry. This very much belongs to me.”
The post Montreal nightlife fixtures explain how anti-Israel sentiment has impacted their passions appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Calls for UN to Condemn Attacks on Aid Workers, Collaborate Amid Mass ‘Disinformation’
Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has called on the United Nations to publicly condemn the killing of aid workers in Gaza and to collaborate in order to provide relief to the enclave’s population, accusing the UN of perpetuating a “vast disinformation campaign” aimed at tarnishing the US- and Israel-backed foundation’s image.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, GHF executive chairman Rev. Johnnie Moore defended the foundation’s efforts to distribute aid to the civilians of Gaza, the Palestinian enclave that has been ruled by the Hamas terrorist group for nearly two decades.
“Nearly 40 million meals have been distributed in our first month of operations from our Secure Distribution Sites,” Moore wrote, adding that the program has successfully distributed emergency aid to Palestinians in “desperate need” despite constantly operating “under grave threat.”
Moore also criticized the UN, saying that the GHF has “shared our data and our logistical approach” with the global body in hopes of forging a collaboration effort between the two entities. He lamented that the UN has “neither partnered with GHF nor even acknowledged our operational successes.”
“Our work has continued with normal operations amidst an expanding regional conflict, and also a vast disinformation campaign which has sought to stop us from feeding people from the moment we started,” Moore continued. “We regret that your own office has been a victim of this disinformation campaign which has only threatened to further harm the Gazan people.”
The GHF was created because Hamas routinely steals humanitarian aid, leaving civilians facing severe shortages. Documents released by the Israeli military earlier this month showed that Hamas operatives violently took control of approximately 25 percent of incoming aid shipments, which they then resold to civilians at inflated prices.
The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these frameworks are more neutral. Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort. The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.
Since the GHF launched operations in late May, there have been reports of Palestinians being shot near distribution sites. In specific cases, Israel has acknowledged targeting what it believed to be armed Hamas operatives using civilians as cover.
In his letter, Moore also criticized the UN for staying “absolutely silent in the wake of a targeted killing of GHF personnel nearly two weeks ago.”
“Their murder was not only a violation of international law, it was an affront to the very principles the UN purports to defend,” the GHF chairman added. He called on the UN to “publicly condemn the targeting of humanitarian workers in Gaza, and to denounce the obstruction of aid by Hamas and other armed factions.”
Moore’s letter came about two weeks after the GHF said that, on the night of June 11, several of its aid workers were killed when Hamas gunmen attacked a bus transporting local staffers.
The group said the vehicle was targeted as it carried more than 20 workers to a distribution site near the city of Khan Younis. In a statement Thursday, GHF said that at least people people were killed and several more were injured.
The bus attack followed days of threats from Hamas directed at the foundation and its workers.
According to Moore, the UN can help the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by working directly with GHD to help distribute aid “at scale” to needy civilians while bypassing “intermediaries.”
“The only credible response to food insecurity is food delivery. Anything less is a deferral of responsibility. We are ready to work with other humanitarian providers to deliver food straight to the Palestinian people and restore order to a system plagued by desperation and disorder,” Moore wrote.
The post Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Calls for UN to Condemn Attacks on Aid Workers, Collaborate Amid Mass ‘Disinformation’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Declares Historic Win, Says Israel Removed Iran’s Nuclear Threat in 12-Day War
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel in its 12 days of war with Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its program.
“We have removed two immediate existential threats to us – the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles,” he said in video remarks issued by his office.
“If anyone in Iran tries to revive this project, we will work with the same determination and strength to thwart any such attempt. I repeat, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu called it a historic victory that would stand for generations.
He said Israel never had a better friend in the White House than President Donald Trump, whose US military had dropped massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear sites in an attack over the weekend.
“Our friend President Trump has rallied to our side in an unprecedented way. Under his direction, the United States military destroyed the underground enrichment site at Fordow,” Netanyahu said.
He spoke hours after Trump directed stinging criticism at Israel over the scale of strikes Trump said had violated a truce with Iran negotiated by Washington, Israel‘s closest ally.
Netanyahu said Israel‘s work was unfinished. He cited the war against Iran’s ally Hamas in Gaza, where 50 hostages remain in captivity since the Palestinian terrorist group carried out a surprise attack on October 7, 2023.
About 20 are believed to be alive.
“We must complete the campaign against the Iranian axis, defeat Hamas, and bring about the release of all the hostages, both living and dead,” he said.
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Historic Australia Synagogue Vandalized Twice Amid Rising Antisemitism Fueled by Mideast Tensions
Vandals defaced the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australia on June 22, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
A historic synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, was defaced twice in one day over the weekend, the latest in a surge of antisemitic incidents as anti-Israel sentiment grows nationwide amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
According to local police, an unknown individual spray-painted offensive graffiti on the walls of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Sunday afternoon. Despite its removal, the building was targeted again later that evening by unidentified offenders.
Vandals defaced the heritage-listed synagogue with graffiti reading “Iran is da bomb” and “Free Palestine,” less than 12 hours after the United States joined Israel in a coordinated airstrike operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, including the heavily fortified Fordow site.
Iran has also been the chief backer of Hamas for years, providing the Palestinian terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training.
“There is absolutely no place at all in our society for antisemitic or hate-based symbols and behavior,” Melbourne’s police spokesperson said in a statement.
Local law enforcement has launched an investigation into the incident and is urging anyone with information to come forward.
Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) condemned the disturbing attack, calling it the latest in a rising wave of anti-Jewish incidents targeting the local Jewish community since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — an escalation that has continued amid the ongoing war between the Jewish state and Iran.
“This was not random. It was a calculated attempt to intimidate Jewish Australians,” Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the ADC, said in a statement.
“An attack on a synagogue is an attack on every church, mosque, and temple. It’s an assault on religious freedom and the right to live without fear,” he continued.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan also condemned the attack, describing it as “disgraceful” and urging residents to stay united, cautioning against letting international conflicts fuel division within Australian communities.
In a press release, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) denounced the incident as a “vile antisemitic attack” and a “direct assault on the Jewish community.”
“This shocking act of hate reminds us that no community is immune to antisemitism,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said in a statement. “We commend the mayor of Melbourne and the city’s leadership for their swift response and unwavering commitment to standing with the Jewish community.”
“But goodwill alone is not enough — we need a unified, coordinated response from mayors across the country. Every local leader has a duty to act with courage and clarity,” he continued. “We must equip cities with the resources they need to confront hate, not just react to it. What happened in Melbourne must not be normalized.”
Antisemitism spiked to record levels in Australia — especially in Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to some 85 percent of the country’s Jewish population — following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities.
According to a report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the country’s Jewish community experienced over 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, a significant increase from 495 in the prior 12 months.
The number of antisemitic physical assaults in Australia rose from 11 in 2023 to 65 in 2024. The level of antisemitism for the past year was six times the average of the preceding 10 years.
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