Gunfire has struck a Jewish school in Montreal, marking the second attack on a Jewish school in Canada in recent days.
Police discovered that at least one bullet hit the Belz Yeshiva Ketana at the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue in the city’s Cote-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighborhood. According to The Montreal Gazette, authorities believe the shooting at the Orthodox school occurred prior to Wednesday.
This incident follows less than a week after two masked suspects emerged from a vehicle early on Saturday morning and fired multiple shots at Bais Chaya Mushka, a Chabad girls’ school in Toronto. It also comes days after a man was charged in a similar shooting at another Montreal Jewish school, Yeshiva Gedola, in November.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported in any of these shootings. However, Canadian Jewish leaders and political officials have expressed deep concern about the recurring incidents.
“We have had enough. Yet another Jewish school was shot at in the middle of the night – in Canada,” said a joint statement released Thursday by Montreal’s Federation-CJA and Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “Thankfully no one was inside the building, but this violent hatred must no longer be tolerated.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with municipal and provincial leaders, has strongly condemned the attack.
“Disgusted that another Jewish school has been the target of a shooting,” he stated. “Relieved that no one was hurt, but I’m thinking of the parents and community members in Montreal who must be incredibly shaken. This is antisemitism, plain and simple — and we will not let it win.”