Calling it a “cowardly and racist act,” Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin condemned as a hate crime the April 5 firebombing that incinerated the library of the United Talmud Torahs elementary school in the Montreal, Quebec, suburb of Saint-Laurent. A message taped to the front of the building claimed the bombing was linked to the March killing of radical Islamist Sheik Ahmed Yassin by the Israeli military in Gaza and promised more attacks.
Only one box of 25 books was salvaged from the 10,000-volume library that served some 230 students. “It’s a writeoff,” school librarian Dan Holobow said in the April 7 Toronto Globe and Mail. “Either the books are melted or they’re water-damaged beyond repair. The collection is basically gone.”
The school’s director, Sidney Benudiz, estimated it would take at least $300,000 ($225,700 U.S.) to rebuild the library and replace its books. Donations have begun pouring in from other schools and individuals, both Jewish and non-Jewish, the Montreal Gazette reported April 9. Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who visited the school April 8, said the sight and smell of burned books will have a lasting effect on him, and he assured students and teachers that the provincial government will help them rebuild.
Police have made no arrests, and their investigation is hampered by the lack of surveillance cameras in the area around the library. The incident occurred when students and teachers were away on Passover holiday.
Posted April 9, 2004; revised April 14, 2004.