(Ottawa) About 100 Jewish organizations in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and elsewhere in Canada were targeted Wednesday morning with an email containing a bomb threat. The same message was sent Tuesday to hundreds of hospitals and shopping malls in Delhi, causing a commotion in the Indian capital.
B’Nai Brith says hospitals and community groups across Canada were targeted with the threatening letter early Wednesday. Federation CJA, which represents various Jewish community organizations, quickly alerted its members, urging them to take precautions, though it said on X that there was no “imminent threat” [ne] weighs on these synagogues or on the Jewish community.”
The investigation was entrusted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and its Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET). “Here in Quebec, the Sûreté du Québec and the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal were deployed to the targeted establishments to ensure that there were no suspicious packages,” said Sergeant Charles Poirier, spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Nothing abnormal was found in the places visited, he confirmed.
“We are on high alert. The entrances to our synagogue are closed and sealed. We are not letting anyone in, except people we know well,” says Daniel Benlolo, rabbi at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, located in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.
His congregation’s email inbox received a threatening email around 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, similar to one sent to other Jewish congregations across the country. The threatening email said explosives had been planted in the building, hidden in backpacks that were set to detonate in the coming hours.
It’s scary! With the current global political situation and the rise of anti-Semitism, this is something that cannot be taken lightly.
Daniel Benlolo, Rabbi at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
The Jewish school located right next to the Côte-des-Neiges place of worship was twice the target of gunfire last fall.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
A Jewish school near the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal was the target of gunfire last fall.
Delhi Now reports that a wave of threats using the same modus operandi and a similar message targeted dozens of hospitals and shopping malls in Delhi, India, on Tuesday, triggering numerous operations by police and fire departments. No bombs were found by Indian authorities.
“It’s on our radar,” said RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier. “It’s very possible that this is an incident similar to swatting ” he adds. The swatting consists of launching a large-scale false alert with the sole aim of provoking the deployment of elite police intervention units.
The group that claimed responsibility for the threatening email is not known to radicalization experts contacted by The Press.
“It is worth noting that the letter is very vague and does not mention any specific organization, which means it could have been sent to a large mailing list or to several organizations one after the other without requiring any modification,” explains researcher Yannick Veilleux-Lepage, an expert on far-right groups and terrorist tactics at the Royal Military College in Kingston.
This is obviously something that needs to be taken seriously and investigated, but it appears to be a hoax aimed at harassing the Jewish community.
Yannick Veilleux-Lepage, specialist in far-right groups and terrorist tactics at the Royal Military College in Kingston
Complaints of threats made against locations in the metropolis have been transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “The Montreal Police Service (SPVM) takes all threats seriously and, in support of the RCMP, will conduct local checks in the event of 911 calls regarding threats. The information collected by the SPVM will be forwarded to the RCMP,” the SPVM responded by email.
“The police are investigating, they will seek the additional information they need from the authorities, whether it be the RCMP or the Canadian Intelligence Service. We are monitoring the situation,” indicated the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel.
“We are concerned about this situation. […] I say [à la communauté juive de Montréal] that their community is safe. The police are doing their job,” he added.
The threat comes a day after the conviction in New York of a neo-Nazi who made similar bomb threats against at least six New York-area hospitals and community centers in 2021.
With Daniel Renaud and Fanny Lévesque, The Pressand The Canadian Press