Vancouver synagogue targeted by attempted fire

A person tried to set fire to a synagogue in Vancouver on Thursday evening, police in the Canadian city announced on Friday, May 31. “The fire did not cause significant property damage or injuries and was extinguished by members of the synagogue before it spread,” according to the press release. This attempted fire is the third anti-Semitic act of its kind in a few days in Canada, against a backdrop of tensions linked to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

“This deliberate act of hatred was an attempt to intimidate the Jewish community. But we refuse to be intimidated or hide,” for its part denounced the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. The organization initially mentioned the throwing of an incendiary device at the synagogue to explain the start of the fire. But the first elements of the police show that it was a person who came to pour an flammable liquid before setting it on fire.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on A “another act of despicable anti-Semitism.” “We cannot tolerate this hatred and these acts of violence. This is not the Canada we aspire to,” he added.

In less than a week, shots were also fired against two Jewish schools located in Toronto and Montreal, without causing any injuries either. In November, a Jewish faith school in the French-speaking metropolis was also targeted twice in the same week by gunfire.