A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the door of a Jewish community center in Montreal on Sunday night, hours after a meeting attended by two federal MPs.
The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) has launched an investigation to investigate this attempted arson attack against the premises of the Montreal Jewish Community Council in the Côte-des-Neiges district.
Fortunately, the incendiary device thrown at the building quickly extinguished before the fire department arrived.
By chance or coincidence, the meeting, previously attended by Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Rachel Bendayan, had the purpose of putting together a security plan for the Jewish community living in Montreal, which has been the target of several attempts at intimidation since the beginning of the war that broke out conflict between Hamas and Israel on October 7th.
No one was present and damage was minimal, Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the council’s executive director, said in a written statement.
Obviously we detest these actions. “We strongly condemn all forms of violence, all these cowardly attacks, all these terrorist tactics against any community, whatever it may be,” Mr. Emmanuel added.
The manager explained that he was informed at around 12:40 p.m. that the alarm system on the premises had been triggered. In an interview, he said that he arrived at the scene moments later to find that the building’s window had been broken and that a Molotov cocktail had been thrown into it.
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The incendiary object was thrown onto the facade of the Montreal Jewish Community Council in the Côte-des-Neiges district.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Stéphane Grégoire
A spokesman for the Montreal City Police Department, Julien Lévesque, said emergency services were called around 1 a.m. to a building whose location corresponds to that of the Council of the Jewish Community of Montreal.
Mr Lévesque said the fire department had handed over the investigation to the police arson squad, adding that no one was injured and the building suffered only minor damage.
In its statement, the Center reiterated its call for governments to provide more resources to better protect the community and its institutions.
Increase in hate crimes and incidents
Since October 7, the SPVM has registered 107 hate crimes or incidents against the Jewish community and 35 against the Arab-Muslim community on its territory.
That’s twice as much as in all of 2022, for both the Jewish and Muslim communities.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to social media to strongly condemn the attack […] against the Jewish Community Council building.
These ongoing acts of anti-Semitic violence are regrettable and unacceptable and must end now. “We must all remain united in the face of such despicable, hateful acts,” he added.
The SPVM also launched an investigation into anti-Israel graffiti that was painted on the entrance to the parking lot of a Jewish elementary school in the Saint-Laurent district over the weekend.
With information from The Canadian Press