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Montreal: Investigation into incendiary device attack on a Jewish Jallouvi center

Montreal: Investigation into incendiary device attack on a Jewish Jallouvi center

By Omayma othmani

Published: November 28, 2023

An incendiary device was thrown at the door of the JALIWI Jewish Center in Montreal on Sunday night to Monday, just hours after a meeting was held inside it with the participation of two members of the Canadian House of Commons.

The Montreal Municipal Police (SPVM) opened an investigation into this attack targeting the headquarters of the "Council of the Jewish Community in Montreal" (CCJ / JCC) in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood.

The device that was thrown at the building was quickly extinguished before the arrival of firefighters.

The meeting held at the mentioned center, attended by about 60 people, including Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Rachel Bendayan, aimed to establish a security plan for the Jewish community in Montreal, which has been targeted by several intimidation acts since the outbreak of the current conflict between the Palestinian Hamas movement and the State of Israel on October 7.

"No one was present (inside the center) and the damages are minor," said Rabbi Shaul Emmanuel, the center’s executive director, in a written statement.

"Of course, we detest these actions and strongly condemn all forms of violence and all these cowardly attacks and all these terrorist tactics against any community," added Emmanuel.

"I strongly condemn the attack on the building of the 'Council of the Jewish Community in Montreal' yesterday," wrote Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his account on "X" (formerly "Twitter").

In the same context, the Montreal Municipal Police counted 107 hate crimes and incidents against the Jewish community and 35 hate crimes and incidents against the Islamic community between October 7 and November 21 within the city limits.

This is almost double the total number of hate crimes and incidents recorded in the entire year of 2022, both for the Jewish community and the Islamic community.

Montreal police also opened an investigation into anti-Israel graffiti writings drawn last weekend at the entrance to a parking lot belonging to a Jewish elementary school in the Saint-Laurent neighborhood.

"The fear is very real, and we will be present to support the safety of everyone," confirmed MPs Housefather and Bendayan.

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