Montreal Synagogue defaced. Image credit Twitter page of Anita Bromberg
Montreal/CNEDIA: A Montreal synagogue in Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood has been defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
Synagogue president Michael Kaplan was reprted saying on Tuesday that Bagg Street Shul was spray painted with Swastikas sometime over the weekend.
Kaplan added that he’s seen something like this for the first time in his 15-year history with the synagogue on Clark Street,
Photos of the graffiti circulated widely on social media.
A letter to the city was sent by Marvin Rotrand, former Montreal councillor and national director of B’nai Brith’s league for human rights calling for more action against antisemitism.
“While the congregation is small, the synagogue evokes Jewish history in Montreal and the attack on it causes dismay in the community,” the letter reads.
The city council was urged by him to publicly denounce the vandalism and mark the upcoming Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“We recommend a declaration to mark Yom Hashoah be inscribed on the April 18 City Council meeting. We also propose that the practice introduced by Mayor Gerald Tremblay of inviting the Jewish community to City Hall so that the names of victims of the Holocaust be read be reinstated.”
In a tweet, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says it has “reported the incident to law enforcement and will continue working with them to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community.”
Expressing her support for the city’s Jewish community, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante added that there’s no place in Montreal for discrimination and racism, and that the city is working hard to ensure everyone’s safety.
#Montreal; #Montrealsynagogue; #antisemiticgraffiti; antisemitism
