The Jewish community refuses to be intimidated

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Security has been reinforced around the Yeshiva Gedola school, targeted by shooting twice in less than 72 hours.

Radio-Canada

Visited by projectile fire for the second time in less than 72 hours, the Yeshiva Gedola Jewish school, located in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district, resumed its activities normally on Monday morning.

In this school, classes take place from Sunday to Thursday. After the shootings on Sunday morning, the students were temporarily moved to another building. It was therefore, on Monday, a return to normal.

Security was reinforced around the establishment and the Service agents police officers from the City of Montreal (SPVM) patrol nearby.

In an interview given to Téléjournal midi, the school director, Menachem Karmel, testified to the support offered by the police officers and their chief investigator to get through these difficult times.

On is assured of having the necessary police protection for the future, until things turn out for the better, he explained.

For former municipal councilor Lionel Perez, who was a member of the school's board of directors for around ten years, the objective of these shootings on educational establishments is very clear: to establish a climate of fear so that parents do not send their children to school. But if the latter are very concerned, they refuse to let themselves be terrorized, he said in an interview on the show Tout un matin, on ICI Premiere.

The Jewish community refuses to let itself be defined or terrorized by these actions. Its members will go about their business. After the discovery of the first shell casings on Thursday morning, we did not remove the children from school. We are a resilient community.

A quote from Lionel Perez, former board member of Yeshiva Gedola School

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Lionel Perez, however, insists on the seriousness of the situation. These people, knowing that there was increased surveillance, took the liberty of targeting the same institution a second time. These facts must be qualified as terrorist attacks, as did the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville. What is happening is something that we have never seen in the city of Montreal, he recalled.

Shooting at a Jewish school: terrorist attacks, according to Lionel Perez. bold transition-colors parent-peer-hover-focus:text-deepSea700 dark:parent-peer-hover-focus:text-deepSea400″>Shooting at a Jewish school: terrorist attacks, according to Lionel Perez

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According to statistics from SPVM, since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, 73 acts targeting the Jewish community and 25 targeting the Muslim community have been recorded on the island of Montreal. This matches what was recorded in eight months in 2022.

In addition to projectiles being fired at schools, a firebomb was thrown at a synagogue last week.

The Liberal Party MP in the riding of D'Arcy-McGee, Elisabeth Press, denounced these crimes in the program < em>First the info, on ICI RDI.

People who do these things are trying to intimidate. We must as a community, as a society, show ourselves strong. Life must resume, life must continue.

A quote from Elisabeth Press, Liberal MP for D'Arcy-McGee

While calls for calm are increasing, Ms. Press is delighted that elected officials and the various governments are speaking with a united voice to denounce the unacceptable. But for her, the police presence is not enough. We have to find other solutions, because it can't continue, it can't get worse, she worries.

Do we need more community dialogue? While recognizing its importance, Lionel Perez also highlights its limits. For him, dialogue between moderate people has no influence on people ready to commit crimes. We cannot accept that there are acts of violence. Faced with hate crimes, there is zero tolerance, says Mr. Perez.