Hate condemned after Montreal Jewish school struck by gunfire for 2nd time this week

Members of Montreal's Jewish community say they will not be intimidated into closing the doors to their establishments after a day school in the city's west end was struck by gunfire overnight for the second time in the past four days.

Bullet impact marks were found onthe facade ofYeshiva Gedolaof Montreal, located on Deacon Road in the Cte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, Sunday morning. Shell casings were also found on the ground nearby. No one was injured.

"Itis sad once again to see that the Jewishcommunity and our institutionhas been the target of hate crime and violence," Lionel Perez, a spokesperson for the school, said at a news conference outside the building Sunday morning.

Perez described the incident as a "terrorist attack," saying that while the community is concerned by the recent events, it will "not allow itself to be terrorized."

WATCH| Mayor says escalation of violence is unacceptable:

Montreal Jewish school shot at for 2nd time in a week

10 months ago

Duration 1:57

A Montreal Jewish school was shot at for a second time in a week, the latest in a string of events targeting Jewish-owned buildings in the city. No injuries were reported. Mayor Valerie Plante condemned the attack and said Montreal is a city of peace.

Instead, he iscalling for increased police presence at Jewish schools and institutions.

"We believe that now is the time to redouble [police] efforts and to ensure that everything[necessary] is being done."

Police say they received several calls around 5 a.m. about gunshots near Yeshiva Gedolaof Montreal, which is normally open Sundays.

Service de police de la Ville de Montral(SPVM) spokesperson Vronique Dubucsayswitnesses reported seeing a vehicle fleeing the scene at the time of the gunfire.

No arrests have been made yet.

Dubuc said police cannot confirm if there was anyone inside the building at the time of the event.

A security perimeter has been set up for the investigation.

In a statement, Premier Franois Legault said his heart goes out to Quebec's Jewish community, adding "every effort will be made to find and punish the culprits."

"The Quebec nation is a peaceful nation. Let's not import the hatred and violence we see elsewhere in the world," he said.

'Nobody accepts this,' says mayor

Montreal Mayor Valrie Plantealso spoke to reporters outsideYeshiva GedolaschoolSunday morning, callingthe recent acts of violence "odious."

"At this moment, the Jewish community is under attack in Montreal," Plantesaid.

"Nobody accepts this, nobody wants this, nobody will say it's OK to shoot[at] an elementaryschool to pass a message."

The mayor said Montreal is a city of peace. People can have different opinions and partake in protests, she said, but nothing justifies hate.

Alain Vaillancourt, Montreal's executive committee member responsible for public security, said even moreSPVM patrol vehicles are beingdeployed andwitha new mandate following this latest incident.

"The patrols that are now in place are not responding to regular calls or urgent calls.They're uniquely patrolling the area" around places such asschools, synagogues and mosques,he said.

Sunday's incident comes after shots were fired at bothYeshiva Gedolaand Talmud Torah Elementary School, another Jewish school in Cte-des-Neiges, overnight Wednesday.

Police said both schools were empty at the time of the shooting and nobody was injured.

Mayer Feig, a member of the Council of Hasidic Jews of Quebec,says shooting at schools is meant to intimidate the Jewish population in the city.

"They want to put fear into the community," said Feig.

"These things have to stop. This hasno place here in Quebec, in Canada or Montreal, it's not who we are. There's a conflict going on thousands of miles away, don't bring it here."

On Monday, a West Island synagogue and Jewish community centre weretargeted by Molotov cocktails.

The eventscome at a time of rising tensions in Montreal related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamasin the Middle East.

Muslim, Jewish voices come together

On the same day of the attack, 10women community leaders from diverse backgrounds came together at a scheduled news conference in Montreal to denounce hate, antisemitism and Islamophobiaand to encourage Montrealers to work together against violence.

Women of Jewish, Muslim, Asian, Black and Arabbackgrounds attended the event, organized bytheCenter for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), to unite their voices.

"There's a lot more that unites us than what separates us," saidMlissa Shriqui from Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholomin the city of Westmount about why she was in attendance.

"We need to have empathy."

Pearl Eliadis, an associateprofessor at McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy, said people cannot take sides when it comes to hate expressed in Canada.

"We need to stand against antisemitism.We need to stand against Islamophobia.We need to stand against all forms of racism wherever they occur."

Farida Mohamed, head of the Montreal chapter of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women,said it "doesn't matter what denomination we're from, we need to speak up when we see a wrong."

Mohamed is calling for people to keep their cool at this time of intense emotion.

"Yes, there's a lot of anger. Anger needs to be channeled properly, anger has to be channeled from pragmatic means in order to create good, lasting change," she said.

"We have to keep civility in all matters."

Between Oct. 7 and Nov. 7, Montreal police have tallied 73 reported hate crimes and hate incidents against the Jewish community and 25 against the Arab-Muslim community.

Last year, Montreal police tallied 72 hate crimes and incidents against all groups for the entirety of 2022.