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April 10, 2004

Firebombed

Hmm. Well that’s just peachy.

My old elementary school was firebombed this week1. No one was hurt, but the school library was totally destroyed.

wreckage of the school library
Library of the UTT Elementary School in Montréal, after Monday’s attack

A note left at the scene said that the firebombing was in response to the Israeli assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas:

Our goal was only to sound the alarm without causing deaths … but this is just a beginning. If your crimes continue in the Middle East, our attacks will continue.

The French-language note was signed by a previously unknown group, “the Brigades of Sheik Ahmed Yassin.”

Let’s be quite clear. This had nothing to do with Hamas. When Hamas exacts their revenge, as they surely will, it will be far, far bloodier, and it will be directed at Israelis, rather than Canadian schoolchildren. These were amateurs — loathsome, hate-mongering anti-Semitic amateurs, but amateurs nonetheless.

Strangely, though, knowing that this a hobby rather than a vocation for them, does not make me more sanguine.

Update (4/15/2004): With tight security in place, classes re-opened on schedule. And, yes, they are accepting donations to rebuild the library.

1 To be precise, it was the Ville St. Laurent school which was attacked; I attended a different branch. But, still, this cuts chillingly close to home.

Posted by distler at April 10, 2004 12:12 AM

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2 Comments & 2 Trackbacks

Re: Firebombed

What a terrible, ugly act. A Canadian school
gets firebombed because of the actions of the
Israeli government? What sense does that make?

Posted by: Abiola Lapite on April 11, 2004 9:08 AM | Permalink | PGP Sig | Reply to this

Re: Firebombed

“it will be directed at Israelis, rather than Canadian schoolchildren”

That’s what many Argentinian Jews thought until 1994, when Iranian-backed terrorists blew up the Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, killing 86 and wounding hundreds.

You’re attributing too much clarity to a group motivated by hate.

Hamas and their ilk will gladly kill Jews wherever they can.

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on April 11, 2004 8:40 PM | Permalink | Reply to this
Read the post And, in Our Safe Neighbor Up North
Weblog: Joe Grossberg
Excerpt: In case you missed it, Islamic terrorists firebombed a Jewish elementary school because ... um ... well ... it's the...
Tracked: April 12, 2004 9:31 PM
Read the post It Scarcely Exists Now
Weblog: Joe Grossberg
Excerpt: update The leading suspect for this particular incident is a disgruntled/mentally-unstable Jewish ex-employee. Arsonists Destroy Jewish Center in Paris From...
Tracked: August 24, 2004 2:12 PM

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