US embassy cable - 04MONTREAL550

UNCLAS MONTREAL 000550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN, IIP, INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PHUM, KPAL, KISL, CA, Terrorism, Education 
SUBJECT: Montreal Jewish School Firebombed on Passover 
 
Ref:  Toronto 000564 
 
1. A private Jewish school in Montreal's St. Laurent 
neighborhood was firebombed in the early morning hours 
of April 5, the first day of the Passover holiday.  The 
firebombing took place between 2.a.m. and 3 a.m. in the 
library of the United Talmud Torah St. Laurent School 
on de l'Eglise Street. There were no casualties. 
 
2. Inspector Yves Surprenant, of the Montreal Police 
Department, was quoted in media accounts as saying 
that, "What was written on the paper stuck to the door 
has made us believe it was a hate crime" but the police 
would not confirm media accounts that the note, written 
in French, made reference to recent attacks against 
Palestinians including the killing of Sheik Ahmed 
Yassin in Gaza. 
 
3. Local and federal politicians, including the Prime 
Minister, were quick to condemn the incident, and a 
rally was held outside the school yesterday, attended 
by Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, Federal Justice 
Minister Irwin Cotler, and leaders of the Montreal 
Jewish Community.  Cotler, a graduate of the school and 
a noted human rights lawyer, was reported to have told 
the rally, "Yes, as students we received anti-Semitism, 
but it was the anti-Semitism of ignorance, of 
stereotyping, of prejudice.  What we have witnessed 
here today is the anti-Semitism of hate and of racism." 
 
4.  Quebec Premier Jean Charest released a statement as 
well, noting, "Setting fire to a school is already a 
vile act, since it touches the future of our society. 
But when it is done in the name of racism and 
intolerance, every Quebecer must stand up to denounce 
it so that it never happens again."  The president of 
the Canadian Islamic Conference, for his part, is 
quoted as saying that the "agony will be double if the 
fire was committed by a Muslim." 
 
5.  Security surveillance of Jewish institutions in 
Montreal will be stepped up, and as will that of Muslim 
mosques, "in case of any counter-acts," according to a 
Montreal police spokeswoman. 
 
6.  This act comes just a few weeks after a series of 
anti-Semitic vandalism incidents occurred in the 
greater Toronto area (reftel).  Federal and local 
leaders, as they did in Montreal, loudly condemned the 
crimes committed in Toronto.  In addition, the Toronto 
police service has announced the arrest of three 
individuals in connection with the vandalism.  Taken 
together, however, these two high-profile events 
bolster statistics recently released by B'nai Brith 
that suggest that anti-semitic incidents are on the 
rise in Canada. 
 
7.  The Consulate left messages of sympathy with the 
Quebec offices of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the 
B'Nai Brith Canada; both organizations were apparently 
closed for the Passover holiday. 
 
8.  This cable includes input from Embassy Ottawa. 
BALLEN