A coalition of religious and ethnic groups is coming together to rally around Montreal’s Jewish community, providing unwavering support following an attack on Quebec’s oldest known synagogue — the Bagg Street Synagogue in the Plateau district.
“There is community of communities that will stand up in support of the Jewish community, in support of any other minority community that has always been the target of hate,” Fo Niemi, the executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, said at a press conference in front of the synagogue.
The Jewish house of worship was defaced with swastikas spray-painted across the entrance of the building on the night of March 27 — reportedly the first time the synagogue was the physical target of antisemitic hate in its 124-year history.
“We’ve got to do something,” Marvin Rotrand, the national director of B’nai Brith, said.
Rotrand says more resources need to be provided to Montreal’s police hate crime unit as well as additional funding for organizations that fight hate.
Foremost, Rotrand says Montreal needs to do more to promote and protect the Jewish community and he’s calling on Quebec’s education minister to require education on the Holocaust to begin in schools as of Grade 6.
“You may go through school and never get a single day’s worth of education on the Holocaust,” he said.
One of the board members of the Bagg Street Synagogue says a new security system will be installed and an upcoming service will address last week’s attack to help the congregation come away with a greater sense of community.
“They will feel better and stronger about themselves,” Sam Sheraton told Global News.
The goal is to gain strength through faith to help members fight acts of hate.
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