A Molotov cocktail was hurled at a Montreal Jewish community centre on Sunday night, an attack Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau labelled “unacceptable” amid the rise in anti-Semitic incidents since 7 October.
The centre was empty at the time of the incident and the damage caused was minimal, according to a statement by Saul Emanuel, general manager of the attacked centre, known as the Jewish Community Council. However, he lamented the “horrendous and recurrent violent attacks.”
After the front glass door was shattered, the firebomb landed in the entrance hall and burned part of the carpet.
Prime Minister Trudeau condemned the continual acts of anti-Semitic violence on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “These deplorable and unacceptable acts of antisemitism need to stop now,” he said.
Earlier this month, two Jewish schools in the Quebec metropolis were targeted with gunfire, on two separate occasions, without any injuries. Molotov cocktails also hit a synagogue.
Montreal’s mayor, Valérie Plante, responded to the incident on the same platform, saying, “Montreal is a city of peace and inclusion. We will ensure it remains so.”
Last week, Toronto police warned of a significant increase in racist crimes in the Canadian metropolis, notably anti-Semitic acts, starting from 7 October, date of the attack by Hamas on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip.
In retaliation for the attack, Israel, which has pledged to “annihilate” Hamas, ceaselessly bombed the Gaza strip until a ceasefire was enacted on Friday last.
