November 8, 2023

You’ve heard reports yesterday of the attempted firebombing at both Federation CJA West Island and Congregation Beth Tikvah. Thankfully no one was in either building at the time. The Montreal Police arson squad and hate crimes unit are investigating and those responsible must be held accountable.

Our Director of Community Security is in constant contact with the police. Read an update from the Police Department on the current investigation following these incidents. We will communicate with you immediately as we receive further updates.

Meanwhile, a violent and disgraceful outburst took place at Concordia University this afternoon. Students from a Jewish club at Concordia had set up a table to draw attention to the 240+ hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Some Jewish students were subsequently verbally and physically assaulted, two of them being struck in the face by protesters.

The altercation was caught on video and uploaded to social media. Campus security and police responded.

“Just yesterday, following an attempted firebombing at two Jewish facilities, we said that words of antisemitic hate can lead to undesirable actions, and this must be prevented at all costs,” said Yair Szlak, President and CEO of Federation CJA. “These antisemitic and violent actions are entirely unacceptable and must be condemned by all. University campuses are not battlefields. When debate of thoughts and ideas becomes hate-filled and violent a dangerous line has been crossed and there must be serious consequences for those involved.”

“What we witnessed today at Concordia university was an undisguised display of antisemitism. Jewish students raising awareness of innocent civilian hostages held by a terrorist group were targeted with intimidation, threats and physical aggression, said Eta Yudin, Quebec Vice President for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). “Were it not for the security personnel, who needed to be on hand, today could have had a very different conclusion. While we thank the police for intervening, the time is now for university leadership to take concrete action and use every possible tool to ensure this never happens again.”

We are pleased to note that Montreal Police have detained some of the perpetrators of the incident at Concordia.

As always, the security of our community is our utmost priority. IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. In an emergency, call 911. When safe, report to the Community Security Hotline at 514-343-4343 or use our online form. As an additional step, we urge you to upload any photos or video that you capture to our portal. We are not going to answer all uploads, but as we gather data and information, it is helpful for us to see what you witnessed once you are safe and are able to share.

We have met personally with Police Chief Fady Dagher watch here and his commanders on several occasions in the past weeks and greatly appreciate their commitment and support to keep our community safe. The chief’s words and actions, and the dedication of the entire Montreal Police Department is heartening.

We recognize that during this time we are all feeling grief, anger, a heightened state of anxiety and stress. These are all normal under such circumstances. Our obligation is to continue living a thriving Jewish life in Montreal as we have for 300 years and to find the fortitude and resilience to come out stronger at the end of these extremely difficult times in Jewish history.

We continue to pray for the safe return of the 240+ hostages, the IDF soldiers, and all peace-seeking civilians.

Am Israel Chai.

Yair Szlak, LL.B
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Federation CJA