Two Jewish schools in the Canadian city of Montreal were hit by gunfire overnight, police said Thursday, amid spiking tensions in the country over the Israel-Hamas war. Police said they were investigating overnight shootings. Both schools reported finding a bullet hole in their front doors Thursday morning, local media reported.
“I know emotions are high, and people are scared. But attacking each other is not who we are as Canadians,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a visit to Montreal. “If anywhere in the world is going to start building the kinds of understandings that we’re going to need to see peaceful resolution in the Middle East… it starts in a place like Canada,” he said.
The reports of overnight shootings at Jewish schools in Montreal are horrifying. I condemn these violent acts of antisemitism in the strongest terms possible – and I want to be clear: This hate has no place in Canada, and we must all stand united against it.— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 9, 2023
‘Rise in intolerant behaviour’
The shootings follow the firebombing of a synagogue in Montreal earlier this week, and clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel student groups at the city’s Concordia University. On Wednesday, a violent altercation at Concordia University between people aligned with opposing sides of the conflict in Israel and Gaza resulted in injuries and an arrest. Administrators said the university, like others, has witnessed “a concerning rise in acts of intimidation and intolerant behaviour” that have left students in fear, according to AFP.
In a separate incident, swastikas were discovered in one of the school’s buildings, Concordia said in a statement. As police announced stepped-up security at schools and places of worship, dozens of officers patrolled downtown streets Thursday ahead of several demonstrations planned around Montreal universities. Urban planning student Alesia Keim, 22, told the French agency she felt “on edge.” “It’s scary coming to school and seeing three police cars outside and officers inside.”
‘Hateful and Evil’
Eta Yudin of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs called the shootings at the Montreal elementary and high schools “hateful and evil.” “No child in Montreal should see their place of learning targeted by a weapon designed to kill,” she said. “The hate must stop. Our city is in crisis.”
Many countries around the world have faced a resurgence of anti-Semitic acts since the conflict between Israel and Hamas started on October 7. Over the past month, police counted 73 hate crimes against Montreal’s Jewish community, eclipsing the number of hate crimes targeting all groups in 2022.
On October 7, gunmen from Hamas poured over the Gaza border with Israel and, according to Israeli officials, killed more than 1,400 people and seized about 240 hostages. Israel retaliated with an aerial bombing and ground offensive that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says has killed over 10,800 people.
(With agency inputs)