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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: How Kitchener-Waterloo's own Walk for Israel drew a huge crowd—and no protesters
Description: An estimated 500 people turned out on Sunday, June 23, to march through the streets of Kitchener, Ont., carrying Israeli flags and raising funds to help victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent war. The number might not sound like a lot, but to organizer Jeff Budd—whose family has sponsored this Walk for Israel for generations, and who expected maybe 150 people might turn up—it was astounding.
The turnout was especially noteworthy against a backdrop of rampant antisemitism and anti-Zionism that's washed across the country. The region has been no exception: Kitchener's Beth Jacob synagogue was...