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A Montreal woman was caught on camera this week insulting someone for flying a Palestinian flag from a car in the city.
Global News is protecting the identity of both women, but in the video from Tuesday the woman in the car can be heard telling another filming she should be sexually assaulted.
“You should be raped and dragged through the streets in front of your kids,” the woman is heard saying.
The video has since gone viral.
Asmaa El Mouden, a Muslim woman in Montreal who wears a head scarf, says she was saddened by the video.
“I got even more concerned and scared for myself, my family members, my friends, for other people,” she explained.
This is just one in a number of incidents of people lashing out against Muslims and Jews since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, say community groups.
According to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), Islamophobia, even on university campuses across the country, has surged.
“Doubled,” insisted NCCM Quebec Community engagement officer Yasser Lahlou. “It has actually doubled in the past few days, yes.”
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El Mouden, a medical student at McGill University in Montreal, says she feels targeted these days, and points to an incident Tuesday when she and a friend sat next to other students who were discussing the conflict.
“One of the people who were sitting down next to us asked another one, ‘Do you sometimes feel threatened by Muslims in the cohort?'” she told Global News.
El Mouden says she confronted the student who apologized.
Jewish groups say they also have concerns about a rise in hate. In a tweet Wednesday, Air Canada confirmed that one of their pilots, who was photographed recently expressing anti-Israel messages, was fired.
“We can confirm the pilot in question no longer works for Air Canada, following the process initiated on Monday,” reads a post on their X account.
Officials at B’nai Brith say they are focused on the safety of the Jewish community across Canada.
“We have reached out to mayors and councillors and civil servants in communities that have a large Jewish population, and police have stepped up patrols at our institutions,” Marvin Rotrand, the organization’s League of Human Rights national director, told Global News.
He added that security has been increased at Jewish institutions
Rotrand wishes the video incident from earlier this week in Montreal had never happened.
In an email statement to Global News, the woman in question extended an apology to the victim, saying in part, “to the woman who was the unfortunate recipient of my unwarranted and unreasonable conduct yesterday. From my heart to yours, I want to sincerely apologize to you, although, at this point, it feels like it’s not enough. I lashed out at you with words that are not in keeping with my values.
“My anger was unfairly directed at you. I said terrible things to you, words that I still can’t believe left my mouth. I’m living with the shame of what I’ve done.
“We are in a very tense time that I wish was not our reality. The video of my anger will live on forever, but I need you to know from human to human, I am deeply sorry and I genuinely hope for peace for everyone.”
Community groups are cautioning the public not to allow the war to divide communities, but should instead use the conflict to open up a dialogue.
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