Montreal: Jewish school once again the target of gunfire

A Jewish religious school in Montreal, Quebec, already targeted this week by gunfire, was again the target of gunfire on Sunday, without causing any injuries, municipal police announced, against a backdrop of tensions linked to the conflict in the Middle East. East. “Around 5 a.m. local time (10 a.m. GMT), several calls were received at 911 (police, editor’s note) for gunshots heard by citizens,” said police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc.

When they arrived on the scene, in the French-speaking Canadian province, the police discovered “projectiles on the facade” of the school and shell casings were also found on the ground, she said. Police confirmed to AFP that “no one” was inside the school at the time of the shooting. Witnesses said they saw a vehicle flee “quickly” after the shooting, she added.

This establishment is one of two Jewish schools in Montreal which, during the night from Thursday to Friday, had already been targeted by gunfire, causing a shock wave in Quebec.

The Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Quebec François Legault as well as the Mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante all condemned this act of violence and appealed for calm.

Also in the Quebec metropolis, two Molotov cocktails targeted a synagogue last week, lightly damaging the building without causing any injuries.

At Concordia University, two student groups claiming to be pro-Israeli and the other pro-Palestinian came to blows on Wednesday, injuring three people, according to the establishment. Police arrested a woman for “assault,” or physical assault.

This new attack on a Jewish school in Quebec comes at a time when many countries around the world, particularly in Europe, are facing a resurgence of anti-Semitic acts since Israel began relentlessly shelling the Gaza Strip, a territory Palestinian under siege.

These bombings were launched in response to the attack on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in Gaza, which killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians. Israeli bombings have killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians, including 4,506 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.