Montreal’s Jewish community woke up this morning to yet another act of intimidation after vandals spray painted swastikas across the windows of Gourmetti Pizza, a kosher restaurant in Ville Saint Laurent, along with a pharmacy located next door.
The vandalism took place overnight. Large swastikas were sprayed directly onto the storefront windows of both businesses, leaving a stark and unmistakable message for anyone walking by. For a kosher establishment that serves the Jewish community, the target was clearly not accidental.
The timing makes the incident even more disturbing. Just hours earlier in Toronto, shots were fired at Jewish schools in what appears to be a coordinated series of attacks against Jewish institutions. While police in Toronto continue to investigate those shootings, the events have sent shockwaves through Jewish communities across Canada. When Jewish schools are being shot at in one city and Jewish businesses are being marked with Nazi symbols in another, the pattern is becoming impossible to ignore.
Montreal’s Federation CJA issued a statement following the vandalism confirming that a kosher restaurant and a neighboring business had been targeted with swastikas. The federation noted that the SPVM had been contacted and described the incident as the latest in a wave of anti Jewish incidents that have swept across Montreal since October 7, 2023.
The statement also delivered a blunt message to political leaders. After each incident, officials arrive with statements of sympathy and promises of solidarity. The federation made clear that this is no longer enough. Concrete measures must be taken to deal with the individuals and groups responsible for the surge in anti Jewish hate that is now appearing on the streets of Montreal.
Swastikas are not random graffiti. They are not meaningless vandalism. They are the most recognizable symbol of the ideology that sought to destroy the Jewish people, and they are used deliberately to threaten and intimidate Jews.
Seeing them sprayed across a kosher restaurant in Ville Saint Laurent the same night Jewish schools were being shot at in Toronto has left many in the community shaken and angry. What was once dismissed as isolated incidents is beginning to look like something far more serious.
Federation CJA is urging anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity to contact its Community Security Network. But beyond catching the vandals responsible for this attack, the larger question hanging over Montreal this morning is how long this climate of hostility toward Jews will be allowed to grow before real action is taken.
Leave a Reply