Jewish community organizations are uniting to ask the governments of Quebec and Ottawa to provide more resources and staff to protect Jewish schools in the province. This request comes as two schools were targeted by gunfire in recent days in Montreal.
“Our community is very concerned about these incidents and our children are scared and nervous about going to school,” underline the letters sent to Prime Ministers François Legault and Justin Trudeau. They bear the letterhead of the Council of the Jewish Community of Montreal and are signed by 100 members.
They were sent on November 12, the day the Yeshiva Gedola-Merkaz school, in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district, was targeted by projectiles. The establishment was also targeted by gunfire, as was the Azrieli Talmud Torah school, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
“Unfortunately, as we all know, this is not an isolated incident,” the signatories emphasize. They recall that Molotov cocktails were also thrown at a synagogue and an organization in Dollard-des-Ormeaux last week.
“We call on the government to do more to ensure our safety and protect our schools, synagogues and institutions,” the authors write.
The Montreal Jewish Community Council says the five million dollars invested in private security by the Trudeau government a week ago are not enough in the face of the rise in anti-Semitic crimes. The Council also asks that administrative formalities be relaxed so that organizations can have easier access to funding.
Faced with the rise in hate crimes in France, places of worship and schools are monitored by soldiers and police. The Council of the Jewish Community of Montreal did not want to comment on the possibility of involving the army and affirmed that it would leave the decision in the hands of elected officials.
In Quebec, this possible solution has been categorically ruled out for the moment, according to our sources. The office of the Minister of Public Security also confirmed, Monday evening, that it was in the process of drafting a response to the requests of the Jewish community.
The shortage of police officers creates “an issue”
In the letters, the authors say they are grateful for the work of the police in Montreal. For her part, Mayor Valérie Plante, however, recognized on Monday that the shortage of police officers creates “a challenge” for the surveillance and protection of places frequented by the Jewish community of Montreal.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
“There is an issue around the shortage” of police officers, said Mme Plante, asked about community demands.
“At the moment, everything is put in place by the SPVM so that schools and other places are monitored and protected,” she said on the sidelines of a press conference on the resignation of Dominique Ollivier. “We are considering all options. » Asked about the absence of Chief Fady Dagher during this crisis, Valérie Plante argued that she had complete confidence in the staff of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
At the time of writing, the Department of Public Safety Canada had not responded to our questions.