It began with some supporting Hamas’ actions on social media on the same day that the massacre in Israel took place on October 7th.
• Also read: University of Montreal suspends lecturer who insulted Jewish students
• Also read: Two Jewish schools were shelled in Montreal
And by the refusal of others to label Hamas a terrorist group.
However, we reached another level when anti-Semitism moved from the digital world to the real world.
Imam Adil Charkaoui called for the extermination of Zionist Jews at a demonstration in Montreal at the end of October. And the protesters responded with “Amen!”
However, we reached another level when hateful words turned into confrontations.
Clashes broke out at Concordia University. Some pro-Palestinian demonstrators reportedly protested against a table with Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Among them, a UdeM lecturer – a man who teaches students – told his Jewish students to “go back to Poland,” the place where millions of Jews were killed during World War II.
However, we reached another level when the violence was directed at religious places.
An Islamic center was threatened with graffiti, while a synagogue and a Jewish community organization were targeted with a Molotov cocktail.
Finally, shots were fired near two Jewish schools.
So what is the next level? The next step in this ever-escalating violence?
Our responsible politicians
Fortunately, our political class is unanimous in calling for calm.
All act responsibly due to their different positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Things are different elsewhere, particularly in France and the United Kingdom, where anti-Semitism on the far left is flourishing. In France, some politicians refer to Hamas as a “resistance group.”
There is no leniency among our politicians here. We are happy.
The absent commissioners
Since this is all true, I’m wondering where some people are here.
In Canada and metropolises such as Montreal, there have been representatives on issues related to racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in recent years.
Given this rise in hatred, isn’t this an opportunity for them to show their usefulness? Quiet tensions?
Isn’t it time in Montreal for someone like Bochra Manaï from the Office of the Commissioner for the Fight against Racism and Systemic Discrimination to publicly call for calm? To appease?
Wouldn’t it be their responsibility to all these representatives to take the initiative in a show of solidarity to break this escalation and prevent it from ending badly?
I quote the Lebanese-Quebec author Wajdi Mouawad in a column in the newspaper Libération this week: “But this is precisely the trap that Hamas’s destructive spirit has set since October 7: to ensure that, finally, first and foremost, anti.” -Semitic.”
