Latest news with #UniversityofWindsor
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Oct 7 hostage blasts 'terror sympathizers' who trapped her at event
About a dozen members of the University of Windsor's Palestinian Solidarity Group (PSG) surrounded the sole entrance and exit point at the venue, shouting 'Hamas is coming' as they intimidated attendees. 'I refuse to let terror sympathizers control the narrative,' Argamani said in a statement to X after the ordeal. Hamas came. Hamas kidnapped me. Hamas murdered my friends. But I won; I survived. Now, I speak for those who can't. I'll keep exposing Hamas' crimes and fighting for the hostages' release—including my partner, Avinatan.' Argamani's boyfriend, Avinatan Or (pictured together), remains in Hamas captivity, along with 49 other hostages. Organizers have decried the group's actions, insisting they were 'harassing' Argamani in an effort to silence her and pressure her to stop speaking out about the horrors she endured. Miriam Kaplan, who chaired the event, described the incident as 'a disgraceful attempt to intimidate a survivor.' She has called on the university to condemn the protest, maintaining: 'These students crossed the line from free speech into aggression.' No arrests were made, but Windsor Police said officers 'monitored the situation and ensured public safety' after receiving calls about a disturbance. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said: 'Blocking a hostage survivor is unconscionable. This is not a protest but intimidation of a vulnerable witness to terror.' Argamani's presence at the event had been heavily promoted ahead of the incident. has contacted the school and PSG for comment. Argamani was rescued in a daring helicopter mission in June 2024 and has since gone on to become an outspoken survivor and critic of Hamas. She made it home just in time to say goodbye to her mom, who was dying of brain cancer. The brave survivor revealed she was held by a 'well-to-do' family but kept under armed guard, was rarely allowed to wash and never saw daylight as she was moved from house to house at night while dressed as an Arab in a bid to evade detection. Argamani was saved along with 21-year-old Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, who were also at the Nova Festival when Hamas militants struck. She became one of the faces of the October 7 tragedy after horrifying footage went viral of her being kidnapped and taken from the Nova music festival on a motorbike. In a heartbreaking love letter to her captive love Avinatan, 30, who she met at Ben-Gurion University four years ago, Noa wrote of the October 7 horror, describing it as: 'That moment which the whole world witnessed – the moment when my heart was torn apart and has never recovered since.' 'I always promised you that we would conquer the world together, that we would grow old together, that I would be by your side through thick and thin. At that moment on October 7, I fought until the last minute so that we could go through everything together, side by side. Unfortunately, those were the last moments I saw you. Unlike the thousands of people who were murdered since October 7, you can still be saved.' Pictured: In this image from video obtained by the AP, Avinatan Or, second left, and his partner, Noa Argamani, not pictured, are seized by members of the Hamas militant group during an incursion into Israel on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
New York Post
19 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Freed hostage Noa Argamani slams ‘terror sympathizers' who trapped her, others at fundraising event shouting ‘Hamas is coming'
Former Hamas hostage Noa Argamani slammed 'terror sympathizers' who trapped her and others inside a Jewish fundraising event at a Canadian university while shouting threats that 'Hamas is coming.' Argamani, 27, was invited to speak at the Jewish National Fund (JNF) event at the University of Windsor on June 26, when about a dozen anti-Israel protesters — part of the University of Windsor's Palestinian Solidarity Group (PSG) — swarmed the the venue in an attempt to intimidate attendees. The frightening display did not put fear into the former hostage — who was freed in June 2024 after eight months in Hamas captivity — saying she will not be stopped speaking 'for those who can't.' 'Hamas came. Hamas kidnapped me. Hamas murdered my friends. But I won; I survived. Now, I speak for those who can't,' Argamani wrote on X. 'I'll keep exposing Hamas' crimes and fighting for the hostages' release—including my partner, Avinatan,' she said of her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who remains in Hamas captivity with 49 other hostages. 'I refuse to let terror sympathizers control the narrative,' she added. In a video from the chaotic scene outside the venue, one of the anti-Israel protestors is heard shouting, 'Hamas is coming,' through a megaphone as attendees attempted to flee from the hostility, according to the X account FactsMatter. Event chair Miriam Kaplan condemned the PSG's blockade as 'a disgraceful attempt to intimidate a survivor,' and called on the university to speak out against the protesters. 4 Members of the University of Windsor's Palestinian Solidarity Group (PSG) surrounded a Jewish fundraiser event featuring freed Hamas hostage Noa Argamani. @psguwindsor/Instagram 4 One PSG member was recorded yelling, 'Hamas is coming.' @psguwindsor/Instagram 'These students crossed the line from free speech into aggression,' Kaplan told The J. Canada's Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also slammed the protestors for their blockade. 'Blocking a hostage survivor is unconscionable. This is not a protest but intimidation of a vulnerable witness to terror,' it said. Argamani garnered international headlines when footage of her kidnapping during Hamas' massacre of Israelis at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, went viral. In the chilling video, a terrorist drove away with Argamani on the back of his motorbike as she pleaded, 'Don't kill me!' 4 Argamani and her boyfriend Avinatan Or. Facebook After 246 days in captivity, Argamani was one of four Israelis freed in a daring daylight mission on June 8, 2024 that saw Israeli troops and police raid a Hamas compound in a hail of gunfire to rescue the hostages. Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, who were also at the Nova Festival when Hamas attacked and took them hostage, were also freed with her. Argamani has since become one of the most vocal advocates for a hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, seeking to free Or and the remaining captives. 4 Argamani garnered international headlines when footage of her kidnapping during Hamas' massacre of Israelis at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, went viral. Speaking to a room full of G7 embassy representatives in Tokyo last year, Argamani described her survival in Gaza as a 'miracle.' 'Every night I was falling asleep and thinking, this may be the last night of my life,' Argamani said. 'And in this moment that I'm still sitting with you, it's a miracle that I'm here. It's a miracle because I survived October 7, and I survived this bombing, and I survived also the rescue,' she noted, referring to Israel's counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip and the risky rescue mission. During her address, she also pressed the world leaders to secure the release of the remaining hostages, including her boyfriend, Or. Or's last known sign of life was in mid-March, according to the Jerusalem Post.
CBC
4 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Portion of Wheatley, Ont., evacuated for gas leak 4 years after gas explosion rocked town
More residents of Wheatley, Ont., have now been evacuated from their homes after first responders found hydrogen sulfide gas "bubbling" in the area near the community's library. In a statement released Thursday evening, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent said the evacuation zone had been expanded beyond Foster Street to include all residents within 100 metres of the site, for a total of 60 homes. An evacuation centre has been established. "The evacuation site, located at 196 Erie St. N, will be open to affected residents for the duration of the evacuation. No timeframe has yet been established," the municipality said in a statement. Chatham-Kent's fire chief reported on social media Thursday afternoon that crews responded around 1:45 p.m. to reports of "a strong smell of gas." "When we arrived, we found an area at the back of the library that is bubbling with water and gas coming up, which we confirmed is hydrogen sulfide," said Chief Chris Case on X. Teams on site now include Chatham-Kent first responders, as well as employment and social services, victims services and local utilities. The municipality also noted a hazardous materials team from Windsor and geological scientists from the University of Windsor are attending, as are representatives from the ministries of environment, natural resources and emergency preparedness. Parts of downtown Wheatley were levelled in 2021 when an abandoned gas well exploded injuring 20 people. Last October, town officials announced that the well, at 17 Talbot St. E., had been drilled, cased and cemented, and a monitoring well established in 2021 had stopped venting gas, including hydrogen sulfide. 'A terrible thing to happen again' The officials said at the time they were "optimistic" that gas emission issues in the area may be resolved. "We know this is a terrible thing to happen again, however all the agencies are here working so we just ask for your co-operation while we try and work out what's going on and try and get the best result we can," Case said on Thursday. Hydrogen sulfide is a colourless gas with a characteristic rotten egg smell that can be released from wastewater treatment systems, oil and gas facilities, livestock operations, pulp and paper mills and mining operations, according to information on the Health Canada website. WATCH | Downtown Wheatley gas explosion from summer 2021: Video of Wheatley explosion 3 years ago Duration 0:44 It can also be released from inactive oil and gas wells. Natural sources include volcanoes, hot springs, petroleum crude oil deposits, decomposing plants and animals and normal bodily functions. One gas technician whose business was affected by the 2021 explosion said the situation is "a little unnerving." Doug Walker, who owns Walker Tetra Mechanical, lost a van in the explosion in 2021. 'A little concerned' He said he had enough equipment on his truck on Thursday to get him through Friday's jobs. But if the incident proves to be serious, "then I'm right back to where we started again." "I don't even want to think about it," he said. "I don't want to think about it. I really don't." Area resident Al Ringrose said Thursday's incident also had him feeling "a little concerned." "We were evacuated for a couple of years," he said. "We thought we had everything taken care of now, and yeah, so it looks like there's still issues." Another resident, Jeff Edwards, said he didn't know what to expect after first responders ordered him to leave the area Thursday. He left his apartment above the Dollar Haven and Discount store Thursday without even bringing his pills, he said. "I got food up there too," said Edwards, who is from the area but wasn't living there in the aftermath of the 2021 explosion. "I had chicken out for supper, but I don't think it's going to be very good if it lasts too long." Walker said he first noticed the smell of gas while unloading two of his trucks on Thursday. "Everybody was coming out of their stores saying that we could smell … something," he said. He began checking gas metres but couldn't see a problem, so he called 911. "None of us want to go through this again, ever, ever," he said, referring to the 2021 explosion. Police are urging the public to stay away from the area until further notice.
CBC
19-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
New tunnel campaign hopes to draw U.S. tourists to Windsor
The 40-40 campaign offers U.S. tourists 40 things they can do in Windsor and take advantage of their 40 per cent higher-value dollar. It's the brainchild of University of Windsor MBA students in partnership with the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Corporation. CBC's Dalson Chen spoke with students Olivia Sylvestre, Sarah Hana, Maria Awada, and Stephanie Chan — as well as tunnel CEO Tal Czudner.
CBC
14-06-2025
- CBC
'Unacceptable': Some of Windsor's parking meters are wrong — but people are still getting tickets
Social Sharing Syed Hassan says he doesn't like to complain much. But when his wife told him she got a parking ticket on Thursday night, he knew he needed to speak out. The parking meter on Wyandotte Street West said enforcement hours ended at 6 p.m. Yet when his wife returned to her car after a class at the University of Windsor, she and several other students had $30 tickets on their windshields. Hers had been issued at 6:17 p.m. "I was just kind of upset that they were doing that to students, that's what really got me," he said. "I have a very soft spot for students. And I remember being very broke." Hassan said he felt like the students were targeted because they'd all be in night classes. "That's unacceptable. Taking advantage of people," he said. Windsor city council approved changes to parking fees and hours of enforcement earlier this year. Fees were set to rise from $2 an hour to $2.25, effective June 1, and hours of enforcement were extended by an hour to 7 p.m. A spokesperson for the city said in an initial statement Friday that it had previously issued warnings to people who parked without paying between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., and has handed out 53 tickets during those hours since Tuesday. Pressed on why people were getting tickets at meters with the wrong times listed, the city said that "all 1,440 parking meters across the city have been individually updated to reflect the new pricing and enforcement hours. "While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, there may be a small number of meters that were inadvertently missed," spokesperson Michael Janisse wrote by email. But CBC checked out parking meters near the university and downtown, and didn't see any with the updated enforcement hours. Downtown Coun. Renaldo Agostino told CBC that people who receive a ticket at a meter that hasn't been updated should "just send it in, call 311." "The city's willing to work with everybody on this one," he said. Agostino maintains that all the meters still displaying the old enforcement hours are "all getting transitioned." "All that'll be fixed," he said. "You'll see stickers over things; you'll see information there. You may see some cover ups, but you're going to see it." But Hassan says when he called 311 he was told to formally dispute the ticket using the process described on the back. "311's like, 'We have no clue. There is no such thing. Nobody has told us to refund all the tickets,'" Hassan said. Janisse confirmed that people who get tickets in these scenarios will have to go through the formal dispute process. "In cases where a discrepancy exists, and the meter signage was not updated, the complaint resolution process would see the ticket cancelled," he said, adding that residents should report meters that haven't been updated to 311. But Hassan said the city made the mistake, so it should own up to it: He says it shouldn't be on residents who were following the posted rules to have to take time to go through the dispute process. "Obviously there's a certain level of incompetence I expect from every organization, whether government or private," he said. "The problem is when you find out that you made a mistake, instead of giving people the run around, like I was told to call 311 and then I called 311 and they're telling me, 'I have no idea what you're talking about. You have to go through the dispute process.' That is where my problem lies." At the end of the day, Hassan said, the city just needs to put stickers with the new enforcement hours on the meters. "It's the simplest thing," he said. "They don't have to go make a huge apology to anybody. They just have to go to all their meters and update them."
