6 months after Oct. 7, young Winnipeggers reflect on how their lives have been changed by the war in Gaza - Action News
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Manitoba

6 months after Oct. 7, young Winnipeggers reflect on how their lives have been changed by the war in Gaza

Young people with connections to Israel and the West Bank say they're going through a range of emotions as the war in Gaza enters its sixth month from fear, to grief, to hopelessness and anger.

'It's personal. It feels real,' says Emily Kalo, 23, whose friend was killed on Oct. 7

What do young Manitobans think about the Israel-Hamas war?

6 months ago
Duration 7:50
After six months, the war between Israel and Hamas has had devastating consequences. CBC Manitoba reporter Zubina Ahmed spoke to youth from Winnipeg's Jewish and Palestinian communities to find out how the last six months have impacted their everyday lives, how they reflect on the war, and what they hope for.

It's been six months since Hamasmilitants launched anattack on southernIsrael, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage.

In response, Israel launched its invasion of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. About 100hostages are believed to still be alive somewhere in the narrow enclave, but their numbers are dwindling.

On Saturday, Israeli troops recovered the bodyof Elad Katzir, one of the 253 people captured by militants on Oct. 7.

But whenever Emily Kalo reflects on what happened that day, she's notthinking of keeping tallies.

A collage of a man wearing a military uniform, with the words 'Mourning the Loss'.
A memorial for Ben Mizrachi, who was killed by Hamas militants in Israel, is pictured at his former school, King David High School, in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"I had a friend who was killed on Oct. 7," the 23-year-old Winnipeg residentsaid. "It's not about the numbers, you see. It's not aboutwhen you turn on the news at the end of the night and hear the updates. It's personal. It feels real."

Ben Mizrachi was one of 260 young people killed by Hamas at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. People close to the 22-year-old from Vancouver told CBC News he used his training as a medic with the Israel Defence Forces to tend to the wounded before he died.

"They were someone who wasn't politically engaged. They weren't a hateful person," Kalo said. "They really just wanted to celebrate life, and to dance."

VivianSilver, a Winnipeg-born peaceactivist who moved to Israel in 1973, was also killed on the 7th.

A woman wearing a black coat with a small yellow ribbon and a pin with the words 'Bring them home.'
'Every single day has felt heavier,' Emily Kalo says. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

Kalo said whenever she thinks about those deaths, and the hostages who are still waiting to be freed, she feels like the weight of the world is on top of her shoulders.

It's a weightthat'sgetting harder to bear.

I don't think that we'll be able to go back to what we felt like before Oct. 7.- Emily Kalo

"Every single day has felt heavier," she said. "I don't think that we'll be able to go back to what we felt like before Oct. 7."

Elsewhere in Winnipeg, young people with connections to Israel and Palestine told CBC News they're going through similar emotions, as the war reaches the half-year mark.

A man cycles past posters with pictures of people.
A man in Tel Aviv, Israel, cycles past posters in April with pictures of hostages kidnapped in the deadly Oct. 7 attack. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Izzy Silvercan't help thinking of the young people killed on Oct. 7.

"I realized my friends that I went to camp with over the summer, or my family that lives outside of Tel Aviv, they could be in danger right now," said the 17-year-old, who is not related to Vivian Silver.

"It could have been anyone my age. It could have been me."

'Have empathy'

Silversaid he grew up surroundedby Jewish people, goes to Jewish school and all his friends and family have always been Jewish. But after Oct. 7, he said he came to the stark realization thathe was actually quite alone.

"I'm less than oneper centof the population. As Jews, there's not a lot of us," he said. "Even though it might feel like when we're in our community we're in a safe place,outside, it's really not."

A young man wearing a polo.
Izzy Silver says as a Jewish youth, he feels alone. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

Officials across Canada have reported analarming rise of hate crimes targeting members of the Jewish and Muslim communitiessince Oct. 7.

Silver said he wants people to understand he and other Jewish people are human "just like anyone else," and that they should take account of both sides and their history before rushing into any opinion on the conflict.

"You also need to find the humanity in yourself to have empathy for those involved, to not detach yourself from what is going on and imagine yourself in the shoes of the people who are being affected," he said.

A person holding up a flag.
A person holds up an Israeli flag during a community gathering in Winnipeg's Asper Jewish Community Campus on Nov. 26. More than 100 people showed up to that event, one of many held in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack. (CBC)

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Close to 76,000 have been injured.

The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it says women and children make uptwo-thirds of the dead.

'History did not start on Oct. 7'

Twenty-six-year-old Adnan Al-Olabi said he felt a lot of impotence and sadnesswhen the war began, but he wants others to understand those feelings don't stem from anything new.

Palestinians walk through the destruction left by the Israeli offensive on Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, March 8, 2024.
Palestinians walk through the destruction left by the Israeli offensive on Khan Younis on March 8. (Hatem Ali/The Associated Press)

"What happened on Oct. 7was very hard but history did not start on Oct. 7," said Al-Olabi, president of the Students for Justice in Palestine.

"This whole thing has been going on for 75 years. People need to talk, people need to sit down,people need to understand each other. And I hope Manitobans can hear the Palestinian community out."

A man with a beard and hat, smiling.
Adnan Al-Olabi says young people should never be afraid to speak up in solidarity with Palestine. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

Mohammad Tobail, 22, was born in Jordan andgrew up in Canada, but he said he's Palestinian "through and through."

He said Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands has gone on for a lot longer than six months, and that it's affected his whole life.

"People here are taking sides and talking this and talking that," he said. "But at the end of the day, if you want to go get food, you can go buy food. And if you want to go get water, you can buy water. You're not worried about dying every day."

Tobail said hisuncleis a surgeon in Jordan. A few days ago, he entered the Gaza Strip to help.

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Palestinians inspect damages at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the facilitiy on April 1. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

On April 1, Israeli troops left Al-Shifa hospitalafter a two-week operation which the country said was meant to targetHamas militants. The biggest hospitalin Gaza one of a few health-care facilities that were partially operational in the Strip was left in ruins.

"We're being sent pictures obviously, and the things that we're seeing are unbelievable," Tobailsaid.

Elsewhere on the Strip, the situation is just as dire.The United Nations says a quarter of Gaza's 2.3-million population is starving.

I think that people who have been abstaining from voicing their opinions need to voice their opinions.- Mohammad Tobail

This week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuordered the reopening ofa crossing at the northern end of Gaza,and the temporary use of a southern Israeli portto increase humanitarian aid supplies into the strip.The country hadpreviously rejectedcalls for more entry points to open up.

The decision came after the U.S. demanded the country boostrelief measures, in the wake of an airstrike that killedseven aid workers.

Members of the Abu Draz family mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at their house in Rafah, southern Gaza, Thursday, April 4, 2024.
A family mourns relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at their house in Rafah, southern Gaza on April 4. (Fatima Shbair/The Associated Press)

On Friday, the United Nations adopted a resolution that called forIsrael to be held accountable for possible war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

"I don't think [the war]changed me. I've just been trying to reach people, to let them know what really is going on and that this needs to change,"Tobail said.

"I think a huge change needs to happen soon. I think international intervention is entirely necessary. I think that people who have been abstaining from voicing their opinions need to voice their opinions, and I think that the Western media needs to change their stance."

A man wearing glasses.
Mohammad Tobail says he's been affected by Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands his whole life. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

Jacob Flickinger, a 33-year-old Canadian veteran, was among those killed in the airstrikeon April 1.

During an event in Winnipeg Thursday,Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded an immediate investigation into the incident, which Israel says was not intentional.

Twenty-year-old Sena Elbakri wants her government to do more.

The Palestinian-Canadian, whohas family in Jerusalem and the West Bank,said she had a much more positive outlook on life before Oct. 7. But the way her own government and others like it have acted in the aftermath of the attackhas made her much more pessimistic.

"Canada has been known to be like a human rights activist," she said. "The actions and the neglect that the government has done towards my peoplehas been something that I'm reflecting upon."

Elbakri said Canada has "not been able tospeak out, protect or do something" for Gazans, "innocent people who are dying back home."

'We are the voice of change'

Last month,the House of Commons passed an NDP motion calling on the government to work with international partners "towards the establishmentof the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution."

A woman wearing a headscarf and a Palestinian keffiyeh on her shoulders.
Sena Elbakri says the Canadian government needs to do more to help Gazans. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

CBC News has reported the original motion was severely softened. It originally called on the government to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Elbakrisaid since Oct. 7, young people like her have become much more willing to speak out, and they will keep pressuring people in positions of power to act.

"We are the voice of change, and because wehave been awoken from whatever slumber we were in before now that I see the hypocrisy in our governments and some of the higher-ups,we will cause a change hopefully soon."

A man with long hair and beard, wearing a hoodie.
Atallah Nakhleh, who's from the West Bank, said he grew up hearing tragic stories all his life. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

Atallah Nakhleh, a 19-year-old University of Manitoba student from the West Bank, said he grew up hearing stories about tragedies. At points, he said, he becomes numb to all that death.

"One life is too many, and then you see 35,000 people dying and it kind of doesn't move you as much after six months," he said.

"But you can also feel ashamed because we could be doing more.I'm here studying. I get to go home to a fresh meal while Palestinian children are dying every day."

Hamas said it would send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday for a new round of mediated talks. Israel was undecided on whether to attend, according to officials.

In the same phone call where he demanded Netanyahu to do more to protect civilians, U.S. President Joe Biden also urged for an "immediate ceasefire."

people waving Palestinian flags.
People waving the Palestinian flag at a rally marking the 20th week of Israel's invasion of Gaza, on March 2. Such rallies have been held every weekend in Winnipeg since the conflict began. (Radio-Canada)

Al-Olabisaid all he wants is peace. He said that while it may be hard to keep talking about it every day, young people should never forget about Palestine and never be afraid to speak up.

Kalo said she also wants peace, but that she's scared about the future.

"It really feels like a collective loss of empathy has happened, where we're not willing to recognize each other's humanity or even recognize each other's pain," she said.

"We're not having constructive dialogue. Not just our community, buteveryone as a whole, we're losing that humanity."

With files from the CBC's Zubina Ahmed and Thomson Reuters