A crowd of supporters, community members and politicians rallied in North York Monday to condemn hatred and antisemitism after shots were fired at a Jewish girls’ elementary school over the weekend.
Daniel Held, chief program officer at the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, denounced the shooting incident at Bais Chaya Mushka school, calling it an attempt to intimidate and isolate Jewish people.
“It was a deliberate attempt to spread fear across our entire Jewish community — to make us cower and hide who we are,” Held told a crowd of onlookers who had gathered in the rain.
“But as you can see here today, the attackers completely failed. We are more united than ever. We are more committed than ever to support each other. We are more determined than ever to fight antisemitism wherever it happens.”
Toronto police say two suspects fired shots at the school shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday.
It’s too early to say for sure if the shooting was hate-motivated, according to investigators. But Premier Doug Ford and other politicians have labelled it as an antisemitic act and are condemning it.
“We’re not going to ignore the obvious, you know, what occurred here and what the target of the shooting was,” Toronto police Insp. Paul Krawczyk said at a news conference over the weekend.
“But at the same time, it will be wrong to just guess at this point.”
There were no reported injuries, but Krawczyk said the front of the school has been damaged.
Several politicians spoke at Monday’s rally including Mayor Olivia Chow, who called the shooting a “despicable, antisemitic act.
“It was a disgusting attempt to intimidate the community, to fill people with fear,” she said.
Chow called those responsible “cowards,” and added “we will find you, you will be held responsible.”
Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce also spoke, and urged people who aren’t Jewish to stand up against incidents of antisemitism.
“We are here with a message, asking Canadians to stand up shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community in defence of democracy, civility, human rights and the rule of law,” Lecce said.
Rabbi Yaacov Vidal, the school’s principal, said the shooting was shocking and thanked police for their dedication to protecting the community.
“Children go to school, and they deserve to be safe,” he said. “We live in a democratic country, and everyone deserves to be able to practise their religion in peace.”
