Alexandre Look

CSL looking to honour Oct. 7 victims

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / August 13, 2025 / Alexandre Look, Bibas family, Côte St. Luc council, Joel Goldenberg

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Côte St. Luc council is looking into ways to honour members of the Bibas family who were brutally murdered by the terrorist group Hamas following their Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and potentially other victims as well, CSL councillors told The Suburban.

The city has already honoured Alexandre Look, a former CSL resident, who was killed by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival as he defended others. A greenspace, located between Beth Chabad Synagogue and Bialik High School (now JPPS Bialik) at the eastern tip of Kildare Road, was dedicated at a very well attended and emotional ceremony last September.

The Suburban made the inquiry about honouring other victims after seeing a posting on the Côte Saint-Luc Families Facebook page in which a resident referenced a previous suggestion that a Côte St. Luc park or street be named after members of the Bibas family. Shiri Bibas, and her children Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 10 months old, were found by Israeli authorities to have been murdered by Hamas. The bodies of the children were paraded through Gaza before being returned to Israel.

The Facebook poster suggested that the wading pool at Yitzhak Rabin Park in District 5 be named in honour of the Bibas family. Rabin was the Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated in late 1995. Some respondents suggested emailing area councillor Mitch Kujavsky for his thoughts.

The Suburban emailed members of council about the wading pool idea. Mike Cohen, who has the toponymy (city landmark naming) portfolio on CSL council, said, “we have not discussed this, but the intention of the city regarding victims of Oct. 7 is to do so at Alexendre Look Place.”

Kujavsky told The Suburban that he was emailed about the wading pool by a constituent and said the idea was definitely worth discussing in council. “We originally thought it would be nice to have memorials related to Oct. 7 in one central location, which would be Alexandre Look Place near Chabad, but we’ll be discussing all possibilities in the near future.” n

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CSL to name greenspace after Alexandre Look

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / May 18, 2024 / Alexandre Look, Côte St. Luc, honour, kidnapped

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The City of Côte St. Luc will be naming a greenspace after former resident Alexandre Look, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists Oct. 7, 2023 while defending others during the Nova music festival in Israel, Mayor Mitchell Brownstein announced at a recent council meeting.

Brownstein pointed out that the council meeting was taking place a day after the six-month commemoration of the attack, in which more than 1,200 people were brutally murdered, more than 200 kidnapped and thousands injured.

“It was the bloodiest day in Israeli history,” the Mayor said. “It was the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust. One of the many atrocities was at the Nova music festival. One of those killed was Alex Look, who grew up in Côte St. Luc. He was a family friend, same age as my son. We knew Alex well. He went to school here and knew a lot of people here. He died Oct. 7 trying to protect the people he was with. His mom was on Zoom with him.”

Brownstein said CSL will honour the memory of Look and all those killed on Oct. 7 “by naming the greenspace between Jewish People’s and Peretz Schools-Bialik and Beth Chabad ‘Alexandre Look Place.’

“We will also install a plaque explaining the events of Oct. 7 and work with the family and the institutions surrounding the area to conceptualize a meaningful landscape plan for the area.” n

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