Rise in antisemitism worrying Montreal’s Jewish community a year after Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel

Montreal’s Jewish community says they’ve continued to feel the effects of the Oct. 7, 223 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war locally over the last year, with rising hate crimes and hate incidents.

“It’s not in the streets of Montreal that we’re going to solve any kind of foreign conflict. This is about hate being allowed to spread. This is about an expression of hate that’s being tolerated,” said Eta Yudin, vice president of the Quebec branch of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).

Just last week, Montreal police arrested five people, including three minors, for possessing incendiary material.

Police believe they intended to use it at two synagogues, including the Chevra Kadisha B’Nai Jacob Synagogue in Côte-des-Neiges-NDG.

“Arresting five people with potentially Molotov cocktails on the eve of Rosh Hashanah next to a synagogue is not just a small thing, this is huge,” says Steve Sebag, Board Chair, Federation CJA. “This, five years ago, would have been big news, now, we risk being desensitized to the threat and that’s very, very dangerous.”

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In the last year, police say there have been 213 reported hate crimes and incidents against Jewish community.

The year before that, the number was 92 – meaning it’s more than doubled. The same was also being seen in the Arabic Muslim community, going from 28 cases to 75.

“We’re standing here today because we feel more needs to be done and where more needs to be done concretely is in the streets of Montreal,” Yudin said.

The Jewish community says their sense of safety has deteriorated, after previous instances of gunshots at schools and Molotov cocktails at synagogues. While no one was injured, it pushed them to increase their own private security and call on police for extra help.

“They hear us when we asked last week for higher vigilance and visibility around Jewish areas and institutions, they were present,” said Yudin. “But we have a challenge ahead of us.”

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Yudin also denounced the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Monday.

“Fireworks in the streets on Oct. 7, when Jewish communities around the world were in deep mourning for what happened.”

Yudin says her “heart breaks” for what has happened amid the war.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone who’s lost someone and suffered,” she said. “That being said, the war has not happened here. It’s not happening in Quebec. And it’s not on the backs of the Jewish community, the local Jewish community, that we’re going to take out frustrations or solve a crisis far away.”

She’s calling for there to be stronger consequences and for prosecution to take place for all reported incidents. She also wants to see training for prosecutors specifically for hate crimes cases.

“To resemble the Quebec and the Montreal that we all cherish and love, then action needs to be taken to ensure that this is not what we continue to face on an almost daily basis.”