12 teens escape firebombing of Jewish school

[Swede]

The masked man who firebombed an Orthodox Jewish school in Outremont on the weekend initially aimed his burning Molotov cocktail at the window of a classroom occupied only 20 minutes earlier by at least 12 teenage boys, surveillance tapes show.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=58451a5a-d2bb-4eb3-9a3b-5eb8ce83aad5&k=87848

[codebuster11]

1. geez

Thats horrible. Wonder what the motive? Simple anti-semitism? thats outrageous

[DavidMS]

5. On the face of it it looks like an anti-semite at work...

Its rather unfortunate that the fool failed to ignite himself in the process.

[greccogirl]

7. Oh, I think

the motive is pretty apparent.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Oh Canada ! Second worse incident since WWII , now thats clean!

Our Friends to the north always seem to be happier than us in spite of our affluence.

[IChing]

3. I hope he is caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law

Hate crimes are awful

[yojon]

4. I wonder what his motive could have been..

"Police have launched an investigation but aren't labelling the attack a hate crime "at this time," said Constable Benoit Couture, because the attacker didn't provide a written message or leave graffiti indicating his motive."

Perhaps he was getting ready for baseball season? No that is just about over. Maybe it was aerobic exercise - that is always possible - but this is only for the throwing arm. Maybe he is a gasoline refiner and had some excess stock that he had to get rid of so he put it in a bottle, lit it and hurled it into the nearest building. All sorts of possibilites....

[greccogirl]

8. Yep! It sure

couldn't have been a "hate crime"...................

[krispos42]

11. What make a crime a 'hate crime' is intent

It's a legal thing. If I beat up a guy because he insulted my favorite football team, it's battery. If I beat up a guy because he's black/white/gay/Muslim, it's a hate crime.

It should be faily easy to prove, though, because a lot of the time those kind of people get involved in groups, literature, websites, etc.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Anti-semitism is most likely

but it has been known for schools to be targetted for arson for other reasons, such as disgruntled ex or present pupils. I can see why they won't call is a hate crime until they have evidence for that - calling it a hate crime isn't important in helping them catch the criminal.

[PCIntern]

26. Yeah,

that's a real common problem in Jewish Schools. Why I've been associated with them in one capacity or another for 51 of my 53 years and it happens all the time.


:sarcasm:


Something about hearing hoofbeats and thinking horses, not zebras...

[geek tragedy]

28. The person said that anti-semitism was the most likely

explanation.

However, since Columbine it's not out of the question to consider students acting violently.

I think if everyone had to guess, they'd guess anti-semitism. I'd be really surprised if it were anything else.

But that's speculation at this point.

[PCIntern]

32. You have a right to say that...

at the risk of sounding argumentative...and that's exactly what I'm doing, I'd say that if three civil rights wokers were murdered and their bodies desecrated in the South in the early 60's, the presumption would be... what? Probably a hate crime,...but it is not unheard of for three youths to have their wallets stolen and then silenced so that they won't tell the police who the perpetrators are.

As far as I'm converned, firebombing a school is a hate crime whatever the motivation and it is certainly anti-Semitic in this case, EVEN IF JEWS PERPETRATED THE CRIME. Which I'll bet you 1000 to 1 they didn't.

[geek tragedy]

33. Everyone agrees that it's probably a hate crime, but

police can't call it one until they've conducted an investigation.

Here, hate crime designates one done because of bias towards a particular group. If it was a Jewish student going Columbine-lite (highly unlikely, we both agree), then it wouldn't fit the statuotory definition of a hate crime.

[bluestateguy]

6. This terrorist should be found and executed.

[Benhurst]

9. I don't believe in capital punishement; but as long as it exists,

all persons who target civilians should be executed, whether they are in uniform or not.

[IChing]

18. This is Canada, It hasn't capital punishment in 40 years

Capital punishment was removed from the Canadian Criminal Code in 1976. It was replaced with a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for all first-degree murders. In 1998 capital punishment was also removed from the Canadian National Defence Act, bringing Canadian military law in line with civil law in Canada. Here is a timeline of the evolution of capital punishment and the abolition of the death penalty in Canada.
http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/crime/a/cappuntimeline.htm

Should we make Canada have capital punishment now?

[Benhurst]

19. I hope not. As bad as your current national government may be,

I hope it hasn't sunk to the level of joining the United States and other repressive nations which have capital punishment.

[PCIntern]

10. I wasn't going to post here

because I thought that there'd be a flood of posts condemning a most frightful event, particularly taking place within a country in which Jews tend to live rather quietly and have not been accused of undue lobbying and influence of the government, to wit: not 'inciting' wars in the M.E. I used to date a staff member of P.M. Trudeau in the old days and was always impressed by her ability to have a real sense of what would be acceptable up there. Yes, she was Jewish.

But I can see that my old friends from the last few weeks are nowhere to be found. Perhaps they're returning from a nice day at the beach or the mountains. I'm sure they'll post when they see this and join me in heartfelt condemnation of this atrocious act.

[MelliMel]

20. Yup.

Because it's never a hate crime when it's a crime committed against Jews, especially Orthodox Jews. It's only a hate crime if they were secular, anti-Zionist Jews. Otherwise it's a set up to drum up feelings of malcontent against anti-Zionists.

[booley]

29. Who here hasn't condemned this?

reading the posts I can't find anybody defending this arsonist.

The most I have seen are a few saying that it might not qualify as a hate crime (there are still a lot we don't know) but that most likely it is a hate crime.

Not exactly radical for some to say we need more information before making a judgement.

[w4rma]

12. Hateful racist jerk. (nt)

[question everything]

13. Probably a listener of hate radio

like Limbaugh and Buchanan who incite their listeners to blame others - monitories and feminists - for any of their shortcomings.

[Kingshakabobo]

14. The other day, I was visiting a friend who lives three doors from.....

....a synagogue. It was Saturday morning and a service was just letting out so there was a bit of a crowd milling about. Anyway, as my boyfriend and I walked past on the way to our car I had a feeling we were being watched by two thuggish looking dudes mixed in the crowd when it dawned on me they were security guards - plain clothed - most likely off duty Chicago cops(I can spot 'em a mile away - criminal mind here). It's pretty sad that a CHURCH has to hire security guards in this country and this day and age. The local Jewish grade school around the corner looks more like a medium security prison with high brick walls and heavy iron gates. They have armed security too.

This shit reminds me why.

[PCIntern]

17. Here in Philly

we have off-duty State Police and pretty senior detectives from local police depts. who are at the religious schools and even evening events such as bar/Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, and Men's club/Sisterhood events and all dances attended by congregants. They have formed an alliance which covers all our local synagogues who want help in this regard. They're very nice, but no BS guys who are tough as nails. I won't go into the details of how this is done, but no surprise that you were at first taken aback. It's really pretty sophisticated.

God bless them for protecting us all in this hate-filled environment.

[davidinalameda]

21. same thing in the SF Bay area

but we all know that it's their support of Israel that is the real reason why otherwise peace loving people decide to start throwing gas bombs at synagogues and schools

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[MelliMel]

23. Of course.

Like I said upthread, it's us Jews doing it to ourselves in order to drum up disgust of anti-Zionists. Because we all know no one really hates Jews. Except white Christians.

[MelliMel]

22. We always have police guarding on Yom Tov

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashannah definitely, and usually on Shabbos we have off-duty police.

[Josh]

25. Here in Sydney every synagogue has security guards -

no exceptions. Most have metal detectors, too. All the Jewish schools, too. It's sad, but it's always been the case.

[bleedingheart]

35. and it is all to protect the Jews from the Christians who have been

taught to hate.

You can hear them rant every day on Christian talk radio, a daily dose of hate of Jews, Catholics, and anyone else who doesn't worship they way they do...

[Kingshakabobo]

36. Is Christian talk radio really that bad?

I wasn't aware of that. I thought the fundies were OK with the Jews, for the time being - till the rapture and all that. Of course, I don't listen to anything but the CD player, Air America and an occasional dose of the fat hillbilly heroin addict-for laughs.

[goclark]

16. When will this insanity end! Awful, just awful! nt

[rockymountaindem]

24. Well, that's pathetic

Although I do have to agree with the person who posted upthread that this may be the act of a disgruntled student and not an anti-Semite. Although, if I had to give odds, I'd bet it was an anti-Semite. I guess the police just have to be careful in their labeling until they catch the suspect. That said, I hope whoever did this is punished to the fullest extent of whatever laws cover this kind of thing.

[Nikia]

27. This is just awful

I hope that this is an isolated incident and they catch the responsible party.

[JNelson6563]

30. We need to finish evolving

and this sort of thing is unassailable proof of that IMO. I am so glad those kids had left! Now they will live in fear all the time.

WTF is wrong with people???? For the life of me I just cannot understand such a hateful mindset!

*sigh*

[cali]

31. Thank goodness

no one was hurt or killed. Still, it's a distressing enough event as it is. Sorry to see such a thing happen in Canada.

[Amonester]

34. It is a crime, and it is an isolated incident at the same time.

There is no anti-semitism in Montreal for 99 percent of the people here. Sad is the other 1 percent criminal in that case (if it is).

Police officers do all their best to find that criminal and charge him accordingly.


Snippet from the article:

"Montreal's Sun Youth Organization offered a $5,000 reward to anyone furnishing details that lead to the firebomber's arrest and conviction. Sid Stevens, executive vice-president, described the donor as a French-Canadian businessman who wishes to remain otherwise anonymous."


This could be very helpful in case that idiot criminal brags about what he's done.

Montrealers wish he'll get what he deserves.

[Spazito]

37. Canada has hate crime laws and this should be considered under

that law, imo.

[meti57b]

38. This is undoubtedly, a hate crime.

Whoever did it, must be caught and imprisoned for life, not only for what he has already done but to prevent his doing it again.