ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN WAR: MUSLIM AND JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN CANADA FEAR FOR THEIR SAFETY
While the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 on Israel brought the situation in the Middle East back to the heart of global concerns, the feeling of insecurity among Muslim and Jewish communities is omnipresent in Quebec. From the Little Maghreb to Côte-Saint-Luc, the fear of the repercussions of the conflict is palpable.
It is Friday afternoon on Bernard Avenue, in the heart of Outremont. The streets are usually bustling with people busy preparing for the final preparations for the weekly Sabbath ceremony, which begins at sunset.
But this week, the streets of this neighborhood, known in particular for its large Jewish community, are deserted.
The excitement that reigns on Fridays in its green streets decorated with beautiful buildings and surveyed by many children from the Jewish community has given way to a climate of concern.
The family cars that Jewish families usually use to travel with their children have been replaced by patrol vehicles operated by Jewish police and community security services. This week, the Sabbath won't be business as usual.
“Worry and anxiety”
Walking discreetly to her home, Isabelle, a Jewish woman, confides in herself and admits that she felt a difference in people's perception of her, whether on the street or at work.
Preparing to celebrate the Sabbath herself, she notes with a serious tone that the atmosphere in her neighborhood is not the same as usual. “There is no one in the streets; usually, there are people in the streets,” Isabelle says with dismay. Of course we are careful.”
Mother of two daughters who are studying at university and who fear for their safety, Isabelle admits that same morning she asked them to stay home for the day and to hide their religious symbols in public.
“Today, they were told to stay home and avoid going downtown because there are protests,” she explains. My girls are at home, and I told them not to go out for nothing. It's worry and anxiety for me.”
Although she has noticed an increase in the police presence around schools and places of worship, she is not reassured and says that she does not know when her daughters will be able to return to school.
Preparing for the worst
A few kilometers away, the city of Côte-Saint-Luc, where a large part of Montreal's Jewish community also resides, did not escape the wind of concern that began to blow on its wide streets lined with huge houses with resplendent lawns.
Mitchell Brownstein Park is deserted, the streets are empty, and the presence of two security guards standing guard at the entrance to the Hebrew Academy testifies to the heavy atmosphere that reigns there.
Staying at home, Mélissa Perez, a Jewish woman, timidly opens the main front door of her home. She too preferred to keep her children at home for a few days, for fear that something might happen to them at school. She herself did not go to the Jewish elementary school where she teaches. She also explains that she is now “very afraid” to go there.
This mother of three says she is taking the situation “one day at a time”, as the situation in the Middle East is so unpredictable. And the climate at school remains very heavy.
“We prepare every day in case there is a Lockdown, explains Mélissa with dismay. We explain to our children aged three and four what happens if you are in the bathroom — that you have to get on the toilet bowl so that we don't see your feet... It's scary to teach that to our children! ”
She even says that very young children are now taught how to “act like a turtle” if a threatening person breaks into the school.
Once home, Mélissa and her husband only briefly discuss the news to avoid worrying their children further. “I just tell them to be careful, not to open the door to someone they don't know, and not to talk to anyone on the street, and not to talk to anyone on the street,” she says. There's definitely a level of anxiety that wasn't there before.”
Her six-year-old son, who usually walks to school with his kippah on his head, is now escorted by his father in a car. In addition, worried for their safety, Mélissa asked her children to stay home instead of going to the synagogue at the end of last week to celebrate a Sabbath like no other.
The fear of leaving home
It is 3:30 p.m. on Jean-Talon Street East, a few minutes away from the prayer. The streets and café terraces are packed. Here, the police presence is not felt. However, the Muslim community also has its share of concerns and fears about the hateful acts that could be committed against them.
With the recent murder of a Palestinian child in the United States and the painful memory of the attack on the Grand Mosque of Quebec in 2017 that persists, many people of the Muslim faith have changed their daily lives to protect themselves as much as possible from hateful acts.
In her clothing store in Little Maghreb, colored by a wide variety of qamis and djellabas, Sarah fears that her safety will deteriorate as the war unfolds. “You can see that I am Muslim and I always have this fear of leaving my house and being attacked because I am wearing the veil and the niqab,” she says. I avoid going out too much and try to get around in the car.”
Fortunately, Sarah has not been attacked since October 7, but in the face of the worsening situation in the Middle East, she admits to being more vigilant, as advised by her family and friends. “It can happen at any time, for example when I take the subway; I never get too close to the edge; I never get too close to the edge, I step back, because you can get pushed at any time,” she explains. We are all human, but it seems like we are something else.”
The saleswoman confides that she does not see “a lot of police” in the neighborhood, except for agents from the City of Montreal for parking.
On the verge of rushing into Saint-Michel metro station, Nour, who is wearing a hijab, explains that he has been feeling the “crooked eyes” at him since October 7. Recently, one of her friends was even verbally attacked by a man on the subway because she was simply carrying a Palestinian flag.
“Every time I go downtown, my dad says, 'Be careful, you never know what people can do to you, people can attack you. '”
Exhausted from having to justify herself
Wearing a hijab and wearing a keffiyeh on her shoulders, Amel Kassem, a 26-year-old Palestinian girl born in Gaza, went to work with tears in her eyes. The next day, she told us on the phone that she was tired of constantly having to justify herself for the situation in the Middle East. She accuses the mass media of being at the origin of the adversity that the Muslim community has been experiencing since October 7.
“I've always felt at home here — I'm a Canadian citizen — but now with what the mass media is constantly spreading, I always have to justify myself, always explain why Palestinians are not terrorists, and that's what really exhausts me,” she said.
“Since the last events, people I know have asked me if I condemn this or that act, and I find it disappointing that some people refuse to hear anything other than what is being said by the mass media,” she adds. However, she notes that she receives numerous messages of support from Canadians and Quebecers, which is “heartwarming.”
“It's very difficult to manage, especially to always have to justify yourself! I find it exhausting, laments Amel. Sometimes I lose hope, and I no longer want to justify myself. But afterwards, I tell myself that I must do it for my people, because I am their voice too.”
In such a climate of insecurity, her parents asked her to stop wearing her keffiyeh, even though she has been wearing it for about ten years. She states that hateful conduct will not make her take that piece of clothing off her shoulders.
“Sometimes I have a feeling of fear, but I don't wear my keffiyeh to provoke anyone, I wear it in solidarity with the Palestinian people — I've been wearing it for about ten years and I will continue to wear it as long as my people are colonized.”
Like Sarah, Amel admits to now standing “close to the wall” when she waits for the subway. And for good reason: shortly after the attack on the Quebec mosque, the young woman was deliberately pushed down the subway stairs. Having already been insulted on the street several times, she explains that she is more and more suspicious, especially when someone comes across her spontaneously.
“Sometimes I don't look back [when they call me up in the street], because I've already received insults like: “You're a pro-terrorist, you're an antisemite.” It has happened six or seven times since October 7 that I have been told that I am a terrorist and that it is a shame that I support terrorists.”
Amel says she cries “at least twenty times a day.” She adds that she and her loved ones have lost the serenity they had before.
Increase in acts of hate in Canada
On October 19, Canada's Special Representative for Combating Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, explained that there are currently fears of a “resurgence of Islamophobia that has troubling echoes of the past.”
She discusses the trauma caused by the stigma that Muslim communities in Canada experienced following the attacks of September 11, 2001. “Muslim communities tell me that we cannot let the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reopen such a painful chapter,” she said. The memory of that dark period is revived today.”
For its part, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) declares that it is following events in the Middle East with “great interest” and invites the population to be vigilant. “Although [the conflict] is geographically distant from us, we are aware of its impact on the feeling of security of the population, and particularly of the communities involved in the said conflict,” adds the SPVM.
As of October 18, the SPVM had identified 11 hateful crimes committed against members of the Arab-Muslim community, and 25 against members of the Jewish community, since October 7.
According to the vice president and lawyer of the Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations (CIJA), Richard Marceau, the number of hate crimes against Jewish people is on the rise in Canada. CIJA fears a sharp increase in antisemitic acts, as was the case in the past when tensions were rekindled in the Israeli-Palestinian war.
“What is happening in the Middle East, in my opinion, is going to get worse before it gets better; and that is likely to have consequences here, explains Mr. Marceau. Fear absolutely exists within the Jewish community.”
For his part, the community development manager for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (CNMC) in Quebec, Yasser Lahlou, notes a meteoric and “dramatic” increase in the number of anti-Muslim incidents. The number of misdeeds of this nature reported to the CNMC would have jumped by 1,300% since October 7! Each day, the CNMC receives about eight calls for reports, compared to one per day previously.
“The Muslim community is afraid, asks a lot of questions and thinks about things that happened in the past,” summarizes Mr. Lahlou. There is absolutely the past bearing its weight, and the injuries are still there.”