Trudeau demands end to antisemitic acts after attack in Montreal

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media outside his office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday condemned an attack on a Jewish community center in Montreal and said antisemitic violence must stop immediately.

A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the entrance of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal just after midnight on Sunday, according to the council. No one was present at the center at the time and the building suffered minimal damage, the council said.

“The rise in antisemitism in our city is frightening, and the repeated violence and attacks on our community are abhorrent and condemned in the strongest terms,” said Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the council’s executive director.

Montreal police’s arson squad is leading an investigation into the incident, and its hate crimes unit has been advised of the case but it is not yet actively involved, according to CBC News.

The attack adds to the growing cases of violence in Montreal since the start of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7. Earlier this month, two Jewish schools in Montreal reported that shots were fired at their entrances.

“These continued acts of antisemitic violence are deplorable and unacceptable – and must stop immediately. We must all stand united against such vile, hateful acts,” Trudeau said on X.

Police in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, have reported a significant spike in the number of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes since the start of the Gaza conflict.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Sandra Maler)