Montreal synagogue firebombed for 2nd time since Oct 7 massacre amid wave of antisemitic violence in Canada

Early Wednesday morning, a Montreal synagogue was firebombed for the second time in just over a year in the latest attack on Jewish Canadians since the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of over 250 more on October 7, 2023. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, no one was injured in the incident.

Mordecai Zeitz, the emeritus rabbi at Congregation Beth Tikvah in the Montreal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, told the outlet that congregants held morning prayers Wednesday morning outside. "We were able to recite the morning prayers in an abbreviated way," he said. "We did not close even if we had to go outside to avoid the fires on the inside, but we had the fires of Jewish identity and Jewish pride very much front and center, in front of the charred doors of the synagogue."

At 3 am Wednesday morning, fire was seen rising from the building. Investigators found an “incendiary device” near the synagogue. The damage was relatively minor and consisted of some broken windows and some smoke damage. There was also some damage to a nearby building that belonged to another Jewish community group. “We are never out of business,” the rabbi said.

A “suspicious man” was spotted by witnesses leaving the area right after the fire broke out.

In November 2023, just weeks after the Hamas atrocities, a firebomb was thrown at the same synagogue. Since then, there have been many similar attacks on Canadian Jewish institutions, shots fired at Jewish schools, and bomb threats. Radical pro-Hamas activists have also marched through Canadian streets.

Last month, anti-Israel activists in Montreal burned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in effigy. Two weeks ago an Australian synagogue was also firebombed.

The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs posted on X that it was “once again outraged” by these “cowardly acts” aimed at “intimidating and harassing” the Jewish community, and called for “justice and swift action,” noting that this was the seventh time a Jewish institution had been targeted in Montreal since Oct. 7, 2023.

Henry Topas, the synagogue’s cantor, said in a statement, “This is a terrifying reminder that Montreal is increasingly unsafe for Jewish people. This is the result of the failure of leaders at all levels to hold accountable those responsible for the hate and violence that is infesting Canadian society." Topas, who is also B’nai Brith Canada’s regional director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, demanded "Mayor Valerie Plante must act now to stop the exponential rise in hate and antisemitism which she has permitted to get out of control in Montreal.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted, “This vile antisemitic attack against Montreal’s Jewish community is cowardly and criminal. I trust the perpetrators behind this hateful act will be quickly brought to justice.”