Montreal, November 12, 2023

Subject: Request for additional resources for the SPVM

Dear Mayor Plante,

This morning, we had to address the media once again, following another attack on the Jewish community. This past week, two of our community buildings were targeted with Molotov cocktails, Jewish students were attacked by anti-Israel protesters on Concordia University’s campus, and three antisemitic terrorist attacks in the form of gunfire shots aimed at Jewish schools, two of which targeted the same school. Each of these actions share a common goal: to instill a climate of fear in Montreal.

We appreciate your presence this morning alongside our community at the targeted school. Thank you for your strong words acknowledging that the Jewish community is currently under attack in Montreal. Nonetheless, our community greatly needs to see concrete actions from our political leaders. On several occasions in other Canadian provinces, schools and synagogues hired off-duty police officers on a voluntary basis to serve as extra security during times of increased threats.

Our understanding is that as Mayor, you have the power to authorize this and to forward our request to the Chief of Police so that it can be communicated to the officers. Our community considers this additional level of protection to be absolutely necessary. It is crucial to ensure that no other school or synagogue is targeted and, most importantly, to send the message that such terrorist actions will never be tolerated in our city. In the event that you accept our request, Federation CJA and its security team will coordinate with the SPVM to call on volunteers willing to ensure our community's safety.

Our sincerest regards,

Yair Szlak
President & CEO
Federation CJA 

Eta Yudin
Vice-President, Quebec
CIJA