{"id":44158,"date":"2024-04-26T01:47:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T08:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=44158"},"modified":"2024-04-26T07:01:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T14:01:26","slug":"face-behind-the-weekly-vigils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2024\/04\/26\/face-behind-the-weekly-vigils\/","title":{"rendered":"Face behind the weekly vigils"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daphna Kedem speaks at one of the weekly rallies she organizes to unite the local community and express solidarity with the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas <\/i>(photo by Pat Johnson)<\/i><\/p>\n

Until recently, Daphna Kedem was a single mom with two jobs, an Israeli-Canadian who came to Vancouver in 2011. Upset by political and social developments in her homeland, she mobilized a local branch of the global activist movement UnXeptable. Then, on Oct. 7, driven by grief and an inability to sit idly, she became the face of weekly vigils for Israel\u2019s hostages, terror victims and families.<\/p>\n

UnXeptable is, according to its website, \u201ca grassroots movement launched by Israeli expats in support of a democratic Israel.\u201d The group mobilized around the world against the \u201cjudicial reforms\u201d of the current government, which critics say would fundamentally undermine the democratic nature of the state.<\/p>\n

The Vancouver activists were meeting weekly and, in the hours after the Oct. 7 terror attacks, it was immediately evident that there was a need for people to come together. Community organizations, she said, were waiting until the close of Shabbat to announce a community response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, no, we can\u2019t wait,\u201d Kedem told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cIn the Jewish tradition, a war or a crisis like this is beyond Shabbat. You can actually break Shabbat if it\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her capacity as an individual \u2013 not on behalf of UnXeptable or any other organization \u2013 Kedem brought the community together at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Oct. 9 and has continued, with a few exceptions, at that location every Sunday since. (Conflicting events have resulted in shifting locations a few times and there were no rallies on Dec. 24 or 31.)<\/p>\n

Kedem doesn\u2019t recall specifically making the decision to hold a weekly event, nor would she have imagined it would go on so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how it came about but I just said, let\u2019s do this every Sunday at 2 p.m. until all the hostages are released and, unbelievably, we are here six months after,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kedem works for a Vancouver company specializing in products for chiropractors, massage therapists and other medical professionals, and she is also an entrepreneur who bakes pies and sells them at farmer\u2019s markets. The weekly rallies have become effectively a third job. On top of all this, she is also deeply committed to animal rights, being a local organizer for a California-based global animal movement called Direct Action Everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
At the weekly rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery April 21, Daphna Kedem leads the call to release the Israeli hostages. (photo by Pat Johnson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kedem laments that attendance at the rallies has dropped off \u2013 it is challenging to keep audiences engaged week after week. She notes that she hears some people in the community talking worriedly about the size of anti-Israel rallies, but then does not see those faces at her Sunday gatherings.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it should not happen because it\u2019s like saying we are giving up on the hostages,\u201d she said of the declining numbers. \u201cIt\u2019s like saying this is our new normal, and it shouldn\u2019t be this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kedem, who was born and raised in Israel, lived in London, England, in her 20s. When she decided she and her daughter, who is now a student at Western University, in Ontario, needed a change, she considered Berlin, which has a large Israeli expat community, but decided an English-speaking city would be better. Her experience of London had been one of bigoted locals with unwelcoming attitudes toward \u201cbloody foreigners\u201d and she is not enamoured of the political climate in the United States. Australia and New Zealand seemed too far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had friends that were moving to Vancouver and I said, OK, I can get a tourist visa for a year and, if things don\u2019t work out, we can always have an experience of a year in Canada,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing the community together on behalf of Israeli hostages, victims of terror and their families takes effort and volunteers, Kedem said, but it is also a vital source of empowerment and comfort for her and all who attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s necessary that we unite in common as a community,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is for the solidarity with the hostages but the other thing is just being together, the community in Vancouver. People need to feel a part of something and, for the past six months, it has been created. People find a safe space and a safe space can grow with more people coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kedem has a lot on her plate. Rather than adding to her stress, though, the weekly rallies are a comfort. She said, \u201cIt\u2019s helping me because I have to do something.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daphna Kedem speaks at one of the weekly rallies she organizes to unite the local community and express solidarity with the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas (photo by Pat Johnson) Until recently, Daphna Kedem was a single mom with two jobs, an Israeli-Canadian who came to Vancouver in 2011. Upset by political and social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22226,687,22729,23166],"class_list":["post-44158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-daphna-kedem","tag-gaza","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-oct-7-hostages"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}