A hostage who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and rescued after more than nine months in captivity has slammed “terror sympathizers” at a fundraising event.
Noa Argamani, 27, was speaking at a Jewish fundraising event at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, on June 25 when protesters blocked the only entrance.
According to Facts Matter, members of the Palestinian Solidarity Group (PSG) shouted, “Hamas is coming,” and refused to let attendees, including Argamani, leave.
Highlights
- Noa Argamani, a hostage kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, was rescued after 245 days in captivity in Gaza.
- At a Canadian event, Hamas sympathizers blocked the entrance of a venue, shouted “Hamas is coming,” and refused to let attendees leave.
- Argamani condemned the protesters online, pledging to expose Hamas’ crimes and fight for the release of hostages, including her partner.
- The protest was widely condemned as intimidation of a terror survivor, with calls for the University of Windsor to denounce the act.
- Argamani continues campaigning for the remaining hostages.
Noa Argamani was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7
Image credits: Noa Argamani
Footage of the protest has been widely shared online, showing protesters standing outside and waving signs.
In one clip, a protester can clearly be heard shouting: “Hamas is coming.”
Windsor Police responded to the event after receiving calls about a disturbance, but no arrests were made.
Argamani responded to the incident online and said she would not let it deter her.
“Hamas came. Hamas kidnapped me. Hamas murdered my friends,” she wrote.
“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.
“I refuse to let terror sympathizers control the narrative.”
Miriam Kaplan, who chaired the event, has urged the university to condemn the protest, the Daily Mail reports.
She described it as “a disgraceful attempt to intimidate a survivor.”
“These students crossed the line from free speech into aggression,” Kaplan added.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also condemned the protest.
“Blocking a hostage survivor is unconscionable. This is not a protest but intimidation of a vulnerable witness to terror,” they said.
Argamani was kidnapped from the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants stormed the event, killing 378 people and kidnapping 44.
Her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, was also kidnapped and is one of the hostages who remains in captivity in Gaza, alongside 49 others.
Argamani’s boyfriend remains in Gaza in captivity
Image credits: Noa Argamani
Footage from the festival, near Kibbutz Re'im, showing Argamani being taken on a motorcycle as she reached out for her boyfriend and shouted, “Don’t kill me,” went viral.
She became known as one of the faces of the Nova festival hostages.
Overall, in Israel on that day, Hamas captured about 251 hostages and killed around 1,139.
On June 8, 2024, after 245 days in captivity, Argamani was rescued from Gaza alongside Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40.
Her mother, who was suffering from brain cancer, had made pleas for her release, and Argamani made it home in time to see her before she died.
Image credits: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME
Since her release, Argamani has been campaigning to bring home her partner and all the remaining hostages.
Marking a year since her rescue earlier this month, Argamani said it felt like nothing had changed.
“We’re still at war. We still have hostages clinging on to their lives, each day, each minute, a living hell. Hostages who are starving, held in unbearable conditions, without even water,” she wrote in a post on X.
“I chose to fight, but on my terms. I listened to my inner voice. I chose my intentions with care. I found myself in places I never dreamed I’d be, met people I never imagined I’d meet. And I had the profound privilege of witnessing many hostages return home into the arms of the people who love them,” Argamani added.