MONTREAL – Jewish leaders called on Montrealers to denounce attacks on Jews after a suburban synagogue was allegedly firebombed early Wednesday, the second apparent arson attack on the house of worship in just over a year. of one year.
Across the street, a window and glass door were smashed at the offices of the CJA Federation, a Jewish community group; It was also the second time that building was attacked in the last 13 months.
No injuries were reported in any of the incidents in the island suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, and overall damage to buildings was minor, police said, but the fire and broken glass represent the latest in a series of violent acts directed at Montreal’s Jewish community since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October of last year.
“This vile act of violence… is a direct assault on the Jewish community, as well as a stark reminder of the alarming rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish hate crimes across Canada,” said Michael Levitt, president and CEO of the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, a Jewish human rights activist organization, said in a statement.
“Such attacks cannot be ignored or dismissed as isolated incidents, nor can we allow them to become the new normal.”
Early Wednesday morning, shortly before 3 a.m., Montreal police received a 911 call about a fire at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, said police spokeswoman Véronique Dubuc. Firefighters extinguished the fire and found an incendiary device at the scene. Dubuc said a window at the synagogue was broken and the building’s door was damaged.
“Witnesses told us they saw a suspect leaving quickly shortly after the fire started,” he said, adding that the building was damaged by smoke, but the overall consequences of the fire were minor.
Dubuc said police have not yet determined whether the fire constitutes a hate crime.
The neighborhood features several Jewish institutions, with the synagogue located in the same building complex as the Hebrew Foundation School, which educates students from preschool through sixth grade.
Around 7:20 a.m., officers at the scene of the fire noticed a broken window and damaged glass door of a nearby building belonging to the CJA Federation. Dubuc said police did not find any incendiary devices at the second location and are investigating a possible link between the two incidents.
“It looks like it could be related,” he said.
Yair Szlak, president and CEO of the CJA Federation, said hate incidents targeting the city’s Jewish community have “skyrocketed” since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023. week of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, Szlak said in an interview that he has been assured that police will intensify their presence around the city’s Jewish institutions.
In X, Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said such “acts have no place in Quebec.” He confirmed that Montreal police will increase their presence in the neighborhood to try to calm the community.
And while Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante responded to anti-Semites in the city, especially during the protests.
Montrealers of all backgrounds must condemn the repeated attacks on synagogues and other institutions important to Jewish life, he said.
“I think it’s an important message that needs to be given to the Jewish community today and to those who are carrying out these cowardly attacks in the middle of the night to create intimidation and hatred against the Jewish community,” Szlak said.
In November 2023, Congregation Beth Tikvah and the CJA Federation offices were hit by incendiary devices causing minor damage. No one was injured in the attacks and Dubuc said Wednesday that police have made no arrests in that case.
Also in November 2023, two Jewish schools were hit by gunfire, one of them twice in one week, while the Jewish Community Council was firebombed later that month, according to the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. In May 2024, a city building housing a Jewish school and synagogue was also shot at.
In total, Montreal police have recorded a total of 318 hate crimes and incidents against the Jewish and Arab-Muslim communities since October 7, 2023: 237 against the Jewish community and 81 against the Arab-Muslim community.
Also in X, B’nai Brith Canada said: “This repeated attack on Jewish institutions is a direct result of a permissive environment where anti-Semitism is allowed to fester unchecked.” The group called for “stricter enforcement of hate crime laws” as well as “measures to combat anti-Semitism in education and on college campuses.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday denounced attacks on Jewish institutions, saying in X: “This vile anti-Semitic attack on Montreal’s Jewish community is cowardly and criminal.”
“I am confident that the perpetrators of this act of hate will be swiftly brought to justice.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024.
Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press