Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Another Attack in Montreal

The entrance to the Ben Weider JCC two days after the incident - there is no visible damage to the sidewalk

On Tuesday night, at around 11 pm, a small homemade bomb was detonated in front of the Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre, the "Jewish Y" in Snowdon, Montreal (CBC). There were no injuries. The gym and complex are currently closed due to Passover, so the disruption will hopefully be minimal. Our Montreal correspondents, who live only five minutes down the block, report that part of the sidewalk in front of the building was blackened by the blast.

It is not yet known whether this was indeed an anti-Jewish attack, but I think it is fairly likely that it was. The Ben Weider Centre is about 3 minutes walking from the Cummings Centre for senior citizens, which was defaced with antisemitic graffiti last December (see our coverage). That graffiti appears to have been the work of Russian nationalist antisemites (Canadian Jewish News), perhaps from the neighborhood. The area is home to large number of synagogues, day schools, yeshivot, and other communal institutions, such as the Saidye Bronfman theater, the Jewish Federation, and the Jewish Public Library. As a former member of the gym and resident of the area, I am surprised how something like this could happen there.

Montreal's Jewish population numbers around 92,000. Overall, there is still a trend of Jewish emigration out of Montreal. Many of the emigrants leave for Toronto, home to Canada's largest Jewish community. In Snowdon, Jews of different religious persuasions and backgrounds (from Yiddish-speaking hasidim to francophone North African Jews to recent Russian-Jewish immigrants) live alongside growing Filipino and Tamil populations, many of whom use the library as well as the gym. An attack on the Y is thus not just an attack on the large Jewish population of Snowdon (as well as those Montrealers who come from other parts of the city); it also threatens the many non-Jewish residents of the area who use its services.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

this kind of thing is not surprising when you consider the lies about Israel that many Canadians are willing to believe

Carmia said...

Very frightening. I hope it is taken seriously and that precautions have been taken to prevent similar incidences from happening in the future.

Anonymous said...

Sana grabbed the soldier by the arm. "Look at the baby," she pleaded. The startled soldier turned his weapon toward her. Then he relaxed and shined his flashlight on the baby's face. "What happened to the baby?," he asked. Daoud told him the baby was dying. "I'll go and bring you the ID cards," the soldier said, but not before pausing to check the trunk and to inspect the spare tire and whatever was under it - all by the book, the book of the occupation.

But then the most terrible thing of all happened: Khaled suddenly stopped shaking. His tiny hands dropped to his sides and his breathing became slow and heavy. "Our baby is dead!," wailed Sana, while Daoud tried to reassure her: "No he's not, just be patient and strong, now we're on our way."

The soldier brought back the ID cards. "Drive to the hospital quickly," he told them. Sana said there was no point now in going to the hospital. Next to Bir Zeit, they stopped the car to check on the baby's condition. Khaled was no longer breathing. Daoud told Sana that there was no point in continuing. "Our baby is dead." But Sana insisted that they continue on to the hospital, maybe the doctors could revive Khaled.

At 1:20 A.M. they arrived at the emergency room. The doctors examined Khaled, put him into an oxygen tent but then had to pronounce him dead. "There's nothing we can do for him now," they told the parents.

On the way home, having left their dead baby at the hospital, they passed through the Atara checkpoint again. "Where's the baby?," the soldier asked. "My baby died," Daoud answered him. "Died? Why?," asked the soldier. "He died, because I waited here at the checkpoint," Daoud said. "No, it's from Allah," the soldier replied.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully everyone reads how this little baby died at a checkpoint in the occupied west bank. Its just one story of many that occur daily in Palestine. The kids on this blog will whine about a silly attack by kids in Montreal, but ignore the official state terrorism of the zionist state.

There can be no peace with zionism. It must be eradicated.

Rebecca said...

I'm wondering why old mr. zionism is racism is afflicting this blog - perhaps because he/she is disturbed by the rationality of the blog's authors? Or perhaps because she/he simply wants to demonstrate his antisemitism, rendering all care for the welfare of Jews somehow something that works against the welfare of Palestinians. I don't see how it works that way.

Anonymous said...

nice try, do you have anything other than the anti-semite charge? Its really getting old and boring. BTW, you made my point sweety. I know you can't understand how any other human being, other than a Jew, might actually suffer.

Rebecca said...

Really, Z is R, how do you know what I really feel? At least I'm willing to leave my real name and a reference to my blog. Who are you? Are you a Palestinian, a Jew, or something else - perhaps a fair-haired American or British leftist trying to do his thing in sympathizing with the oppressed?

Anonymous said...

Rebecca sweety,

A racist Zionist like you needs to know my race or religion, but were not all like you. I do not identify with any group other than the human family. I am a human being committed to a set of values that are universal. I support human rights and social justice across the entire world and I am opposed to racism, apartheid, and repression wherever it may be and by whoever it may be committed.

Certainly I support the struggle of Palestinians against colonialism and apartheid, but you do not need to be Palestinian to do so. I was also opposed to apartheid in S.Africa, and Im neither black nor white.

So again, it goes back to a set of universal values and personal backgrounds are irrelevant.

Anonymous said...

Not only did this blog post make my point, but also a certain ZiR poster... the only place for Jews is Israel. At least in Israel we have a semblance of defending ourselves.
Quite frankly, I'm just waiting for more bombings to occur... in Montreal, in Europe, wherever the Muslim population is growing, and everywhere else, where the indigenous population is poisoned by this irrational hatred of Jews.
Face it, the Holocause, the pogroms, the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades... they weren't one-offs. They can happen again.

Anonymous said...

Jen,

Oh no, not the anti-Semitic card again. Jen, you are behind the times. It doesn't work anymore. Even the stupid Americans are waking up to this canard. Being anti-Zionist and opposing the criminal state of Israel has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. This is not only an insult to most people's intelligence, but a clear insult to the real victims of anti-Semitism.

Anonymous said...

BTW Jen.,
You are so wrong. You reached precisely the wrong conclusion. The opposite is the reality.
Occupied Palestine is now the most dangerous place to be a Jew, and the reason is Zionism. Now aint that a sad sad irony. Its not too late. Let the refugees return and work for a Zionist free Palestine and Arabs and Jews can live together in peace the way they always did before the cancer of Zionism.

Anonymous said...

Ignore the troll and it will go away...