Canada PM Condemns Shots Fired at Jewish Schools

Facts

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned recent violence in the country after bullet casings were found at two Jewish schools in Montreal on Thursday and university students clashed over the Israel-Hamas war in the city on Wednesday afternoon.¹
• Montreal police are investigating the two overnight shootings after staff reported finding bullet holes in the school's front doors. There were no injuries, and it's unknown whether the incidents were connected.²
• Trudeau criticized the incidents on social media, claiming they were 'violent acts of antisemitism' as the city's deputy police chief announced increased police presence at high-risk areas, such as places of worship.³
• This came amid simultaneous pro-Israel and pro-Palestine rallies at Montreal's Concordia University on Wednesday, which saw at least three injured and another arrested. Meanwhile, earlier in the week, a synagogue and Jewish community center in Montreal were firebombed.⁴
• Tensions across the world have risen since Oct. 7, when more than 1.4K Israelis were killed in an attack by Hamas. In retaliation, Israel has bombarded Gaza, with the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reporting the Palestinian death toll at over 11K.⁴
• According to Toronto police, in the three weeks following Oct. 7, crimes against both the Jewish and Muslim communities have increased more than 100% compared to the total number from last year.³

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²CBC, ³Yahoo News and ⁴The Guardian.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Guardian. Canada has a long history of being a diverse and peaceful country. This recent anti-Semitism and Islamophobia is disgusting and unacceptable. Canadians need to unite and not let international issues divide them domestically.
• Narrative B, as provided by TVO Today. While the conflict in the Middle East has undoubtedly fueled these kinds of episodes, Canada's history is far from being free of hate crimes. In fact, these recent incidents are indicative of a wider problem that came to fester during the pandemic and call attention to the government's lack of action. It's time that the root cause of these types of crimes is finally addressed.