A Jewish school in Toronto was targeted by gunfire on Saturday for the second time in a few months, without causing any injuries, police announced, against a backdrop of rising anti-Semitic acts in Canada since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Shortly after 4 a.m., shots were fired “from a vehicle” at Bais Chaya Mushka Girls’ Primary School in the North York neighborhood in the north of the city.
A similar incident targeting the same establishment had already taken place in May and the police are trying to find out if the two episodes are linked.
No one was present inside and no injuries were reported, a police spokeswoman told AFP. Only one window was broken.
The incident took place as the Jewish community celebrated Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day.
“Very troubled,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “my heart goes out to the students, staff and parents, who must feel terrified and overwhelmed by this news today.”
“Anti-Semitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hatred — and we will not tolerate it,” he added on X.
According to a May report from the Jewish organization B’nai Brith Canada, the number of anti-Semitic acts more than doubled in the country between 2022 and 2023.
Toronto police said they have increased their presence in Jewish neighborhoods over the past two weeks and will continue to do so.
In November 2023, a Jewish faith school in Montreal, Quebec, was targeted twice in the same week by gunfire, without causing any injuries.
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