Vandals attack 5 Jewish sites in Montreal

MONTREAL, Canada (WJC) — Police are investigating a series of attacks by vandals on five Jewish institutions. Windows were broken at three synagogues and at a Jewish school and a kindergarten. The attackers struck at the different sites between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, and the attacks are believed to be linked. “In each case, there was a window that was broken. We think a rock or something like that was thrown. And right now we’re looking for witnesses, someone who might have seen something suspicious,” a police spokesman said. 

The Jewish sites are located in the Montreal suburbs of Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead. Rabbi Reuben Poupko, chairman of the city’s Jewish Community Security Coordinating Committee, said: “These are cowards who act under the cover of darkness, who fling rocks in the middle of the night, and they will not determine how the Jewish community behaves or gathers for prayer or for study. We will continue to use our institutions despite these continued assaults on our buildings.”

Police have been alerted and say there is surveillance video available to assist with the investigation. The security cameras had been installed in the last few years due to the rise in attacks on Jewish communal buildings, Poupko explained. “We felt this was a necessary investment,” he said.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress