Just days after two men fired shots into a Jewish school in Toronto, police in Montreal are investigating a shooting at a boys’ school there.
The attack, which occurred in the middle of the night, targeted a Belz yeshiva that is housed in a Young Israel synagogue building. At least two bullets were reportedly found. No one was injured.
Photos of the building show bullet holes in the glass panes in an exterior entry door.
In a statement the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, which is made up numerous Orthodox groups in the city, said, “We are calling for a rapid and comprehensive response by the government of Canada, the Quebec government and the City of Montreal so that Jewish Montrealers can once again feel safe walking to school, attending synagogue and going about their daily lives.”
“The JCC has repeated called on governments to do more,” the group went on to say. “But our voices have been ignored. We hope and pray that this latest attack serves as an alarm bell.”
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau also condemned the incident, saying: “Disgusted that another Jewish school has been the target of a shooting. Relieved that no one was hurt, but I’m thinking of the parents and community members in Montreal who must be incredibly shaken.
“This is antisemitism, plain and simple — and we will not let it win.”
The shooting Wednesday night comes less than a week after two men were caught on camera firing shots at Bais Chaya Mushka, a Chabad girls schools in Toronto.
It also comes a week after police in Montreal announced the arrest of a man for a shooting outside the Yeshiva Gedolah of Montreal back in November.
In a joint statement, Yair Szlak, president and CEO of the Federation CJA in Montreal, and Eta Yudin, the vice president-Quebec for Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said, “We have had enough. Yet another Jewish school was shot at in the middle of the night—in Canada.”
Antisemitism in Canada reached epic proportions last year, as the B’nai Brith Annual Audit of Antisemitism recorded nearly 5,800 incidents of Jew hate. There have also been numerous anti-Israel rallies across the country in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“This escalating violence against our community is intolerable and cannot continue for another moment. For months and months, we’ve been seeing on our streets and university campuses the open promotion and glorification of violence against Jews,” said Michael Levitt, president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement. “History has taught us that what starts with words often leads to violence, and that’s the dark reality Jews in Canada are facing today. How many more attacks do Jewish communities have to suffer before there are tragic consequences?”
Canada is home to the fourth-largest community of Jews worldwide with more than 390,000 Jews calling the country home.
