MONTREAL At least two Montrealers are among the 45 killed in a stampede at a religious festival on Israel’s Mount Meron Friday. Members of the local Jewish community confirmed that the two victims were singer Shraga Gestetner and 21-year-old Dovi Steinmetz. Shraga Gestetner was a great family man, a great community man, a very talented singer, said Mayer Feig, from Montreal s Orthodox Jewish community. Feig said his community has lost a talented and dedicated man in Gestetner.
Montrealer Shraga Gestetner was among the victims in the stampede in Israel. (Photo: ArutzShevaTV) Gestetner composed a number of albums before stopping at the height of his career to help the vulnerable in the Orthodox community, Feig added.
Mike Blanchfield
Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick January 08, 2021 - 1:00 AM
OTTAWA - Shortly before 10 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2020, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne peeked at his mobile phone during a particularly intense teleconference. A BBC report of a plane crash outside Tehran airport flashed on his Twitter feed.
What a tragic start to the year, the minister thought as he turned back to the high-level government teleconference seized with assessing the fallout of the Iranian missiles that had blasted two American military bases in Iraq, where several hundred Canadian soldiers were stationed.
OTTAWA Shortly before 10 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2020, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne peeked at his mobile phone during a particularly intense teleconference. A BBC report of a plane crash outside Tehran airport flashed on his Twitter feed.
What a tragic start to the year, the minister thought as he turned back to the high-level government teleconference seized with assessing the fallout of the Iranian missiles that had blasted two American military bases in Iraq, where several hundred Canadian soldiers were stationed.
Four days earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a military drone to obliterate Iran’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad airport. Iran was retaliating, stoking fears the Canadian military trainers in Iraq might become collateral damage. No one in Ottawa had yet heard of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, which had just lifted off from Tehran’s airport.