RSS
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.
RSS
Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.