Israeli ambassador to join “Ride to Remember” motorcyclists on Parliament Hill

OTTAWA – The Ambassador of Israel, Her Excellency Miriam Ziv, will join with motorcycle riders from five countries on Parliament Hill Thursday May 31 at 11 a.m. to remember the Holocaust and pledge “Never Again.”

Riders from Canada, the United States, Israel, Australia and the United Kingdom will take part in the ceremony co-sponsored by Peter Goldring, Member of Parliament for Edmonton East, and David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale. As many as 1,000 bikers are expected to take part and one of them, who survived the Holocaust as a child, will lead in the “Never Again” pledge.

“It is important that we keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, that we confront those that would deny the truths of history,” Mr. Goldring says. “We need to learn a lesson from history and work together to ensure that genocides, such as the Holocaust, do not happen again.”

Canadian organizer Howard Galganov, of Montreal’s Maccabees Motorcycle Club, says riders from the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance (JMA - an international umbrella organization for Jewish bikers worldwide) will be joined on Parliament Hill by Mission: M25 (an American Christian motorcycle group) and different Canadian motorcycle clubs, including The C.A.V., Canadian Army Veterans Motorcycle Club. In addition, a large contingent of leading members of Montreal’s Jewish community will be traveling to Ottawa for the event.

The ceremony will remember the more than 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust with speeches and prayers from political and religious leaders, culminating in a pledge of “Never Again.”

The event is part of the JMA’s annual Ride to Remember, which is being held in Canada May 31 - June 2, the first time the event has been held outside the US. Following the Parliament Hill event the bikers will proceed to CFB Trenton for a ceremony there, followed by JMA weekend events in Markham. On Saturday June 2 members of the JMA will join 5,000 other bikers as part of the Heroes Highway ride from Trenton to Polson Pier in Toronto.