‘Shame on you’: GTA woman’s message to feds after fleeing Israel

It was an emotional reunion at Pearson Airport for Antonella Barrasso as she embraced her family and friends after 30 hours of travel which included two flights and six days of desperately trying to flee Israel in the wake of the deadly attack by Hamas over the weekend.

“Every time I wanted to go to the airport, something would happen and I couldn’t go,” she tells CityNews, recounting one instance where air-raid sirens began to wail just as she was getting into a taxi, forcing her to seek shelter in a nearby stairwell.

Her friends back home encouraged her to get to the airport where they found her a flight home.

“We had booked her on several different flights because so many were getting canceled,” said Nilab Jafarzadeh. “So at one point we had a personal flight booked for her to Athens. She missed the flight to Athens. So we booked her another flight while she was in line.”

Barasso’s arrival comes as the first Canadian evacuation flights were completed Thursday with two Canadian armed forces aircraft departing Tel Aviv with more than 120 Canadians. But for Barrasso, evacuations five days after the war began aren’t good enough.

“Shame on you,” was her message to Canadian government officials.

“There are people that really needed your support and the guidance you gave was minuscule. I’m thankful that you were all able to enjoy your turkey dinner during Thanksgiving while we were all praying in a bomb shelter.”

Ottawa says it is scheduling additional evacuation flights from Tel Aviv to Athens on Friday and Saturday but travel and accommodations beyond that will be at the evacuee’s personal expense. Air Canada says it will make flights available from Athens to Canada.

Global Affairs says there are currently more than 5,600 Canadians registered in Israel and roughly 500 Canadians registered in the West Bank and Gaza. Canadians in the region are asked to register to receive up-to-date safety information.

Three Canadians have been confirmed dead among the almost 2,300 people killed so far in a conflict that began after Hamas conducted brazen attacks in Israel last Saturday.