Jew-Hate Target ... Jewish Children's School/Toronto

"We are here to educate children, and that's what we're here for, and that's what we will continue to do, and we  hope that this is the final time, and this will come to an end soon."

"As Hanukkah is coming up, light will always prevail, and the message to the world out there is increasing goodness and kindness."

Rabbi Yaacov Vidal, Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School principal

 

"I can assure you, we will leave no stone unturned trying to find the perpetrators."

"Everyone, from the chief right on down, is putting all the resources that we can into this. We have stepped up our patrols."

"We have a couple of guns and gangs teams working on these shootings. We are making progress."

"There is a frustration, because what we've seen in our city in the past year with the antisemitic incidents, it's horrifying."

"It is quite simply horrifying."

Toronto Police Superintendent Paul MacIntyre

Toronto police are investigating another incident of gunshots fired outside a Jewish girls elementary school in North York. Bais Chaya Mushka Girls Elementary School was the target of two previous overnight shootings in October and May. CBC still from video

 

"And we're doing what we can, standing with the Jewish community, and we are throwing everything at these shootings."

"[The shootings are the direct result of the] incitement of mobs that have taken over our streets."

"What you're seeing is an entire societal failure, all the way from Ottawa down to the local government, to grapple with the lawlessness that is going on in our streets and in our cities."

"What has become of the city? What has become of this country?"

"The Jewish community will not be intimidated. We helped build this city. We helped build this country. "We're going to go about our daily lives as Jews, living as Jews, and going around without intimidation and harassment."

Toronto Councillor James Pasternak

Yet again a Jewish girls' school in Toronto was targeted. The Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School located in North York, for the third time was riddled with bullets. The day following the shooting the school opened as usual, but some parents decided to keep their children at home in fear for their safety. The shooting had taken place in the early morning hours on Friday. When police responded to the call they discovered "evidence of firearm discharge". 

 

According to police reconstruction, a vehicle with multiple individuals drove up to the school. One person emerged and fired six shots at the school, then the vehicle and its occupants left the scene.

According to school officials the fencing and school building sustained damage. Security guards hired by the school are not present overnight. Their concern is that during the day when children are in attendance at the school, they remain safe from harm. Police henceforth, according to Toronto Police Superintendent Paul MacIntyre, will have a command centre installed at the school property seven days a week, 24 hours a day to operate for the foreseeable future.

Police are open to assistance from the wider public; whether anyone saw or heard anything suspicious, or should anyone be in possession of dashcam footage. Toronto has the largest group of Jews in the country resident in the city. Resulting in the city seeing major protests over the war in Gaza. It seems evident that the large number of Jewish Canadians living in Toronto may be matched by a large number of Jewish-hating residents from backgrounds other than Canada, bringing with them historical antipathies finding expression following the atrocities of October 7, 2023 when terrorists from Gaza committed mass murder in southern Israel.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed confidence in a thorough investigation by Toronto police. "I'm outraged and disgusted to hear that, once again, shots have been fired at a Jewish girls' school in Toronto. These antisemitic hateful attacks have no place in Ontario", he messaged on social media. Just coincidentally the Congregation Beth Tikvah synagogue in Montreal was hit a day earlier with a crude firebomb. 

 

"Enough is enough. Antisemitism and antisemitic attacks have no place in Toronto", Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow responded, while taking care not to commit to putting an end to the disruptive and hate-filled, threatening weekend pro-Hamas protests in the city targeting the Jewish community.

"Canada has become a more dangerous place for the Jewish people under the divisiveness of the weak and now [politically rejected] wounded Justin Trudeau."

"Another day brings another cowardly act of antisemitic hate, and it's well overdue that the [federal] government do something, or anything, to protect Canadians."

Melissa Lantsman, Conservative MP representing GTA's Thornhill

Toronto police in an October 2024 update, pointed to 358 confirmed hate crimes in Toronto for the year. Close to 75 percent of the hate crimes were specifically directed at Jews. Over 160 people had been arrested, with 403 charges laid, according to Toronto Police Force statistics.

 

Bais Chaya Mushka Girls Elementary School was previously targeted on Yom Kippur. That shooting broke a window, in addition to other damage to the building. (CBC)

"I reiterated to him my great concern over the intolerable wave of antisemitic attacks against the Canadian Jewish community."

"I stressed that words would not suffice, and that firm and decisive action must be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice, to stamp out antisemitism, and to educate and legislate in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the Jewish community."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog