Montreal police announced they are investigating a disturbing incident in which two Jewish schools were targeted by gunfire this past week.
Staff arrived Thursday morning to find bullet holes in the exteriors of the school buildings, though no injuries were reported as the buildings were empty at the time, according to reports by Canadian media.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking from Longueuil, expressed his shock and firm stance against such acts of violence. “It’s with horror that we learned this morning that gunshots hit several Jewish schools,” Trudeau stated. “This hate has no place, not here in Montreal, not anywhere in Quebec, not anywhere in Canada.”
On Wednesday, a group of Concordia University Jewish students raising awareness about the 242 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza were confronted by an angry crowd that verbally and physically accosted them.
The Jewish students had set up a table with posters of the hostages and other materials in a common area reserved for sanctioned student group activities, which this was. Jewish students were shoved, harassed, and faced a barrage of hate speech including racial slurs such as “k*ke.” Security and police intervened to protect the students and restore order.
CJA respond
Federation CJA President and CEO Yair Szlak said that “just yesterday, following an attempted firebombing at two Jewish facilities, we said that words of antisemitic hate can lead to undesirable actions, and this must be prevented at all costs. These antisemitic and violent actions are entirely unacceptable and must be condemned by all. University campuses are not battlefields. When debate of thoughts and ideas becomes hate-filled and violent, a dangerous line has been crossed and there must be serious consequences for those involved.”
Quebec Premier François Legault, alongside Trudeau, also strongly condemned the shootings and related violent events at Concordia University. “What happened at the two Jewish schools cannot be tolerated,” Legault said. “We don’t want hate and violence in Quebec, and we won’t tolerate this.”
The incidents are considered to be part of a larger outbreak of violence linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Legault added, “We are seeing horrible scenes on television... But here, we have to be able to talk to each other calmly.”
The police announced they will continue their inquiry, and revealed that a woman has been arrested in connection with the violence at Concordia University.
On Wednesday, NBC reported that Montreal faced further threats as two significant locations were targeted in attempted fire bomb attacks. Despite the tension and fear these events have sparked, the damage was reported to be minor, and no injuries were sustained during the incidents.