More can be done to fight antisemitism in Montreal, Jewish community says

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Leaders of the Jewish community called on all Montrealers Tuesday to stand against hate in the wake of an alarming rise in antisemitic attacks in the city over the last year.

Monday marked the anniversary of a massacre of Jews in Israel when more than 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas attack and 250 people were kidnapped. The incursion prompted a war in Gaza that has resulted in more than 41,000 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health authority.

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In Montreal, amid the anger of events happening in the Middle East, the Jewish community has been the victim of a record number of hate incidents. Among them schools being shot at and synagogues and community centres being damaged by firebombs.

“For a year now, our community has been under constant attack and living under the threat of a resurgence of antisemitism on a scale not seen in decades,” Eta Yudin, Quebec vice-president for the Centre for Jewish and Israel Affairs, told a group of reporters Tuesday at the Cummings Centre. “We’re standing here today because we feel more needs to be done.

“There is an incitement to hatred and antisemitism that is being expressed almost daily in our streets,” Yudin added. “That’s where we need to see action taken.”

Yudin said that in the last four months of 2023, there were 131 heinous crimes and antisemitic incidents reported to police, double the number for all of 2022. Since Oct. 7, 2023, police have reported 212 heinous crimes and hate incidents targeting Jews.

In addition to the violence on the streets, Jewish students at CEGEPs and universities reported feeling intimidated on campus.

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Yudin said there needs to be stronger leadership to send a message that hate incidents are not to be tolerated.

Some in the community have blamed Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante for a lack of leadership. At a ceremony held by the community on Monday night, Israeli Consul General Paul Hirschson called out Plante’s silence in the wake of the attacks, saying she never even reached out to the family of Alexandre Look, a Montreal man killed during the Oct. 7 rampage.

“Just a word of compassion, it would help us digest social media posts accusing us of things she knows are false,” he said.

Yudin stopped short of criticizing Plante, but reiterated demands that the community has made in recent months, including that she dismiss the city’s anti-racism commissioner, Bochra Manaï, after she attended a pro-Palestinian rally, where noted imam Adil Charkaoui called on God “to exterminate Zionist aggressors.” Charkaoui was not charged with hate speech after the audio from the event was analyzed by Crown prosecutors. However, the Jewish community has taken issue with Manaï’s presence at the event and with social media postings she made about the war.

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Yudin said Tuesday that dismissing Manaï would send a message the city will not tolerate hate speech.

“It has been months that we have raise the issue of Bochra Manaï not being the appropriate person for the role that she is in,” Yudin said. “That may be a place to start. Someone who has demonstrated consistently that she doesn’t have the judgment for that specific role should not continue to be entrusted with the fight against racism within the framework of the city of Montreal in the context of rising antisemitism, rising hate.”

Catherine Cadotte, a spokesperson for Plante, did not respond Tuesday when asked if the mayor had called the Look family and also why she did not attend the commemorations. Plante did issue a written statement, however: “Since the beginning of this conflict, we have been in close contact with all the communities and their institutions.

“We have assured that the SPVM also is present and listening to their needs. Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel and there were many vigils and protests held. The city and (Montreal police) continue to remain vigilant so as to assure everything passes without incident. We will continue to speak with the members of all the communities affected. We reiterate once again that we would like to see the safe return of the hostages, de-escalation of the war and hope peace will prevail.”

The community has also called for the federal government to give more tools to Crown prosecutors by creating special prosecutors trained in recognizing hate crimes.

“We feel police would make more arrests if they felt there was a viable path towards convictions,” said Steve Sebag, chairperson of Federation CJA, who stood alongside Yudin during the news conference.

Yudin said she feels that many antisemitic incidents are not reported to police — despite the alarming numbers. She urged anyone who witnesses, was or is a victim of such acts to call police.

“This is everyone’s fight because this is an attack on democracy,” she said. “If we value and cherish our way of life, we have to fight together to protect them.”

jmagder@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jasonmagder

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