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A group of Winnipeggers celebrate being back in the city after being forced to flee a tour of Israel after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.<\/p>\n
As the U.S.-Israeli-led war against Iran erupted around the Middle East, McGhie and the tour group \u2014 now back safely in Winnipeg \u2014 began a journey that would take them through Egypt, Greece and Germany before finally returning to Canadian soil a few days ago.<\/p>\n
He said the bombing intensified, along with the sirens and alerts on his phone. Members of the group were told by tour guides to download an app that would warn them when to seek shelter. They used it at least three times during the first days of the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes in the middle of the night, in the afternoon, in the evening, the sirens would go, the alerts would go, and we\u2019d have to get our clothes on, get out to a shelter and wait for the all-clear so we could go back to our rooms,\u201d McGhie said.<\/p>\n
Unable to distinguish the sounds, McGhie initially believed Jerusalem itself was being bombed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sirens would go just before the bombs dropped, and what happened was that the Iron Dome (Israel\u2019s air defence apparatus) was taking out the bombs,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing from Winnipeg, we\u2019re not experienced with bombing things, so what we thought was bombing was actually the boom from the Iron Dome taking out the missiles over our hotel area. And we could see them.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGhie, who praised the tour company\u2019s response, including direct contact with its president, said the group was soon put on buses bound for Eilat, Israel\u2019s southernmost city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hotel we stayed at (in Eilat) had about six or seven ambulances parked in front of it, and all the ambulance drivers and attendants were all staying in the same hotel we were, so heard some intel from them,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything was pretty much closed, all the tourist sites, souvenir places. The only things that were open were maybe drugstores and supermarkets for food. They were into that war mode, that survival mode.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, the group was transported on a roughly 10-hour journey into Egypt and its capital, Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took our binoculars, they took our cameras, and instead of doing a six-hour trek, they made us do a nine- to 10-hour trek so we wouldn\u2019t see any military installations or anything,\u201d McGhie said.<\/p>\n
From Cairo, the group flew to Athens then continued on to Munich and Toronto before landing back in Winnipeg late Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
McGhie said the group handled the ordeal calmly, leaning on their faith as they moved from place to place seeking safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a wonderful thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThese were Christian people, so we prayed, we worshipped God, we looked to God, who has been faithful to us in our lives. Nobody had a meltdown because of fear. It could be very fearful, but it just didn\u2019t happen. Everyone was very composed. There were concerns, and we rose about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
One woman on the trip lost her passport at an airport in Athens and was denied boarding by Greek officials. McGhie said she eventually made it home Friday night after detouring through London, England.<\/p>\n
The tour was McGhie\u2019s 19th in roughly 30 years, and his first since 2019, with the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors halting trips for several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a travel advisory, but not a serious one,\u201d he said. \u201cAir Canada was still flying into Israel, so it looked like all systems were go.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGhie said they weren\u2019t the only tourists trying to leave the country \u2014 or the only Manitobans. Another Israel tour group from the province, numbering several dozen, was also scrambling to get home.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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More than 100,000 Canadians are registered with the federal government in countries across the Middle East. Iran\u2019s retaliatory attacks on several nations, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have closed airspaces and led to flight cancellations.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Canada\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the country was doing everything it can to get Canadians out of the region. A chartered flight from Dubai to Istanbul, Turkey was slated for Saturday, while more seats on other flights were expected over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Around 3,500 Canadians had requested help from the federal government to leave as of Friday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, despite his first trip to Israel in several years coming to an abrupt end, McGhie said he supports the war, praising U.S. President Donald Trump for his role in it.<\/p>\n
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Scott Billeck Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade\u2019s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.\u00a0 Read more about Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Reporter
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