Montreal Synagogue Targeted by Firebombs in Latest Attack Against Jewish Community

MONTREAL—A synagogue in Montreal was targeted by arson shortly after midnight on June 5 and police have a suspect in custody.

The attack against the Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in the affluent City of Westmount near downtown is the latest in a string of similar incidents in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada.

Windows at the back of the building, which is accessible through an alley, have traces of fire and one window was broken.

Chad Lubelsky, executive director of the temple, said rocks were thrown at one of the windows near the rabbi’s office followed by two Molotov cocktails. The synagogue had two employees on site but no one was injured.

“The security systems that we have responded as they should,” Lubelsky told The Epoch Times in an interview. “At the same time, obviously, we’re deeply concerned about this incident.”

The Westmount Public Safety Department and the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) responded and a 38-year-old suspect was apprehended. His identity has not been released and the SPVM said charges are pending as the investigation unfolds.

SPVM spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant told The Epoch Times that police can’t confirm Molotov cocktails were used in the attack but said firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, which partly spread inside the building.

Brabant said the incident is currently not being considered as a hate crime but as arson.

Lubelsky said this is the second time the temple has been targeted. The last time was in February when a swastika was painted on the building. “We do occasionally receive a threatening email or threatening phone calls, but this is the second physical incident,” he said.

The synagogue’s Rabbi Lisa Grushcow in a message to her community noted the incident occurred shortly after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Toronto on anti-Semitism.

“We cannot ignore the broader issues and the unmistakeable rise of antisemitism in our city and our country,” she said. Grushcow said a proactive stance toward the issue includes “naming the ways in which external conflicts are being imported,” and “recognizing that while criticism of Israel can be legitimate, when the Jewish State and those who love it are libelled, violence against Jews is the result.”

Carney’s speech in a Toronto synagogue on June 1 said that anti-Semitism has “surged to levels previously not seen in the postwar period.” The prime minister mentioned Israel once, saying Canada accepts a definition of anti-Semitism that allows for criticism of Israel but not hatred of Jewish people.

Carney did not pinpoint the cause of anti-Semitism but said those who come to Canada should “leave behind your animosities.”

Local politicians reacted to the incident at the temple, with Liberal MP Anna Gainey saying she spoke with Rabbi Grushcow to offer the government’s support. “The rise of antisemitism in our country must be named and confronted, not ignored,” she said on X.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, from the nearby riding of Mount-Royal, told The Epoch Times he spoke with the rabbi to “voice my disgust at the incident,” and that he will attend the synagogue this weekend to offer support to the community.

The Israeli consulate in Montreal said it’s “horrified” by the attempted arson and called for action. “Words and declarations are not enough,” the consulate said in an X post.

In his Toronto speech, Carney said the Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, announced in February, is being tasked with studying anti-Semitism.

Former Senator Marc Gold, who represented the government in the upper chamber, was named on the council. Gold is a member of the Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom congregation. Other council members include Omar Alghabra, former Liberal cabinet minister and former Canadian Arab Federation president, and former Olympian Catriona Le May Doan.

“We’re appreciative of efforts that are made, and have concerns on whether the significant degree of the response matches the moment that we’re in,” Lubelsky said in commenting on the recent developments.

Montreal has seen multiple incidents of attempted acts of arson and gunshots against Jewish institutions in recent years, following the Hamas 2023 attacks inside Israel and the subsequent Israeli retaliation.

Anti-Israel protests have also been a regular occurrence in city streets. The SPVM opened a hate crime investigation last week after protesters on May 24 displayed hanged puppets resembling politicians, including one with a mock Jewish kippah. The effigy represented Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to protest organizers.