Thirteen Women, Worlds Apart: International Outcry for Polytechnique; Silence for Israeli Hostages
By Randy Pinsky
December 6th, 1989 will be forever etched in the minds of Canadians. An unstable gunman who felt his career prospects were being threatened by women in the field, stormed into the Polytecnique engineering department and murdered 13 female students and one employee, simply for being women. The day has since been recognized as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
In an eerie parallel, 13 Israeli female hostages still remain in Gaza, their health status and condition unknown to the torment of their families and the larger Israeli and Jewish community. They were taken and others murdered on October 7th, simply for being Israeli.
Whereas the years since the Polytechnique massacre have seen impassioned political speeches, lobbies against gun violence, and international commitments against femicide, the world has been largely absent regarding the hostages’ abduction and treatment. There has been little condemnation by UN Women and other organizations purporting to protect all women - and their silence is deafening.
A Dark Day in December
It was a day like any other. December 6th was at the end of the semester for students at the Université de Montréal’s world-renown Polytechnique engineering school, and many were in evening classes or doing exams. Determined to avenge women engineering students he claimed ‘were ruining his life’, a shooter with a premeditated plan murdered fourteen of them, simply for being women.
The world was in shock. In a predominantly male-led field such as engineering, women were increasingly being recognized for their presence and contributions. While there remained resistance by more conservative professors and colleagues, a femicide was impossible to grasp.
Say Their Names
Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz
In Montreal, powerful beams of light are projected into the sky from Mount Royal in honor of each victim at 5:10pm, exactly the moment of the attack.
They are more than numbers. Each name was associated with a promising engineer, whose career aspirations and research contributions were cruelly cut short. It is essential that their stories be shared, never to be reduced to a statistic of another senseless death.
Know Their Stories
Anne-Marie Lemay (22)
Anne-Marie was a fourth-year mechanical engineering student who sang in a rock band when she was not studying. She was raising funds for a class trip overseas but never had the chance to take it. One of her closest friends, Helen Rathjen, survived the attack and has gone on to become a critical advocate for gun control.
Michèle Richard (21)
Known as ‘Mimi’ by her family, Michèle was a second-year metallurgical engineering student. Her family was raised by a single mother who described Mimi as “her best friend and confidante.”
She had only just reconciled with her estranged father, determined to reconnect before her wedding. The shooter killed both her and her classmate Maud Haviernick when they were presenting their research. Her father, overcome by grief, would commit suicide a year after her death.
Anne-Marie Edward (21)
An avid skier and outdoor enthusiast, Anne-Marie was a chemical engineering student. Upon enrolling at Polytechnique, she was thrilled to be accepted to the school’s competitive ski team. She was buried in her ski-team jacket, and in her honor, her teammates wore patches with her initials on their sleeves.
Her initials ‘AME’ mean ‘soul’ in French, “so now the new science building will have a soul, a guardian angel,” shared her father Laplante Edward who became an outspoken advocate for gun control. A graduate of John Abbott College, the school named its new science and technologies building in Anne-Marie’s honor in 2013.
Geneviève Bergeron (21)
A talented singer and musician, Geneviève had to choose between studying music or engineering before choosing the latter. A second-year scholarship student in mechanical engineering, her professors and fellow students recognized her gift in the field.
Annie Turcotte (20)
A metallurgical engineering student, Annie chose her field with a fierce commitment to improving the environment. She was a committed student who was awarded a scholarship for women in science, “described as a gentle and athletic young woman who was as comfortable taking apart cars as she was baking with her mother.”
A Dark Day in History
On October 7th, Hamas terrorists broke through the security barrier between Israel and Gaza and started indiscriminately murdering, maiming, and abducting Israeli civilians. 1,200 people lost their lives that day and 242 were taken hostage.
While most of the children, elderly and individuals with dual citizenship were returned in a negotiated ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in November 2023, 110 still remain, their location unknown.
Thirteen of them are women, their state of health uncertain over a year later.
Hypocrisy at the Global Scale
Although it is their right and duty to assess the health and safety of vulnerable people, international human rights organizations such as the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders have been prevented from having access to, or many believe, not used their clout to demand to see the hostages.
On the one-year anniversary, thirteen influential voices spoke out for the thirteen women still held in Gaza. These included Bravo producer and host Andy Cohen, actresses Patricia Heaten, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik, and influencer Emily Austin, brought together by The Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Members also protested outside of the UN Women’s headquarters on December 1 in recognition of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women for their inaction regarding the sexual violence committed against Israeli women on October 7 (something UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese still refuses to acknowledge).
The hesitation by international women’s organizations to publicly condemn the testified atrocities has led many to paraphrase the ‘#MeToo’ movement for women’s rights as ‘#MeTooUnlessYou'reAJew.’
Say Their Names
Romi Gonen, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Ofra Keider, Shiri Bibas, Inbar Hayman, Emily Damari, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Doron Steinbrecher, Arbel Yehoud, and Daniella Gilboa.
Know Their Stories
Doron Steinbrecher (31)
A veterinarian and nurse, Doron was kidnapped from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Relating from the messages she sent to them, family and friends said she blocked her door and hid under her bed for hours. The last voice message her friends received at 10:30 on that fateful day was “They’ve arrived, they have me.”
Naama Levy (20)
“Naama is the embodiment of good—kind, pure, and compassionate,” stated her brother Amit. She had finished her training to be part of the border observation unit and had just begun her military service at the Nahal Oz IDF base two days earlier. Described as “a girl who believes in the good of all people, who dream[ed] of a future in diplomacy,” she was involved in the ‘Hands of Peace’ organization uniting American, Israeli and Palestinian youth for social change. The final contact with her mother was at 7 in the morning; “We’re in the safe room. I've never heard anything like this.”
Shiri Bibas (33)
The Bibas family has been the face of the hostages due to baby Kfir and toddler Ariel being abducted with their mother Shiri and father Yarden. They have become the international symbol of the demands for release, a family of redheads holding onto hope in a dark time.
Karina Ariev (20)
A surveillance soldier serving on the Nahal Oz army base, Karina is described by her family as a “gentle girl with a big heart who takes care of everything.” In anxiously watching for her to be found among the survivors, she was identified in one of the abduction videos, being taken away in a vehicle.
Romi Gonen (24)
Ambushed when she tried to escape the SuperNova music festival, Romi sought shelter among the bushes. Her mother Merav Leshem Fonan related how she tried to calm down her terrified daughter after she was shot. Though she could do little from a distance, she kept repeating “how much I love her. She’s my kid. I wanted her to remember my words and…how much she’s loved, and what we will do when she comes back home.” Fonan has been vocal in demanding international action in releasing the hostages, addressing the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024.
Action. Now
When Mia Schem was freed after 50 days in captivity, she shared her terrifying abduction story. Prior to being released, she was allowed to hug the other female hostages she was locked with. “I …promise[d] them that they’ll be released tomorrow, that we’ll meet again in our country and pick up the pieces.”
“It’s been a year. I’m here in body, but…my heart remains hostage in Gaza with [the] young women still held there… in the chambers of hell.”
Two groups of women. Two very different international responses. One has to change.
Bring Them Home Now
