WARMINGTON: Toronto Jewish girls school being shot up for third time is national crisis

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Third time is not a charm when it comes to shooting up a Toronto Jewish girls school – it’s a crisis.

And not just for Toronto, but for Canada as a whole. It’s not safe here for Jewish people. That truth has to be told.

Just call this a deadly antisemitic hat trick. How many times does Bais Chaya Mushka School for Girls have to get shot at before someone in government gives a damn and realizes there is a war on both this Jewish school and on Toronto Jews in general?

Three times? Four times? Five times?

“Firearm discharge,” Toronto Police said in an X post. “Sheppard Ave West and Chesswood Drive” at “2:33 am at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School.”

But it’s more than that. It’s an anti-Jewish hate crime. They have happened almost every day in Toronto since Oct. 7, 2023, and nothing is slowing the hate down.

Police said there was “evidence of a firearm discharge” with “no injuries reported.” But the whole city is wounded from this.

When the dust settled and glass was cleaned up, police surmised that a total of six rounds were fired into the school, which had evidence of several bullet holes. The Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, “supported by Hate Crime Unit,” is “investigating.”

Police are looking for two suspects who fled in a white SUV from a familiar address for police.

The school was shot up for the first time on May 25, then again on Oct. 12. The second shooting came right in the middle of Yom Kippur. This latest one is on the eve of Hanukkah.

In the October incident, windows were shot out and there was a lot of damage. In the first incident last spring, a video showed gunmen firing at the school.

The last one in October saw the arrest of an adult and a youth who were charged. Police were investigating if there was a connection between the accused and the first shooting but have so far not indicated there was.

But now that there has been a third shooting, this is clearly a conspiracy that needs a special task force to determine who is behind it. It has to happen before somebody gets hurt or killed.

Police Supt. Paul MacIntyre told media “it’s incredibly unfortunate that I stand here before you this afternoon to discuss yet another shooting at the Bais Chaya Mushka Girls Elementary School.

“With just a few days until the start of Hannukah, we know how deeply disturbing this is to the Jewish community.”

Deputy Chief Robert Johnson told the Toronto Sun on Friday that an all-hands-on-deck investigation underway – the same as last time when less than a week later they nabbed two suspects.

He described this latest shooting as a situation where a person got out of the passenger door of a white SUV, which stopped at the school, and started shooting.

It is believed the adult arrested in the last shooting remains behind bars but police have ruled nothing in or out on this one.

Johnson is hopeful he can make a similar arrest announcement once again. It’s too early to say how this case will unfold or to speculate who is behind it. But what is known is this is an untenable situation. The constant attack on Jews in the GTA is now at a level that is bordering on anarchy and chaos.

Our leaders and systems have to protect our people. They are failing. It has been open season on Jewish people ever since Oct. 7, 2023, and there has been little answer to combat it. It keeps happening and things are escalating.

On Thursday, Waterloo Regional Police told the Toronto Sun they are investigating a disturbing video on social media from a Cambridge man in which he said as part of a “free Palestine” rant that “we’re coming, you won’t be able to handle all of this … because we are going to get you for all those dead babies you F****** pieces of sh..”

There is no indication there is any connection to this incident, but it offers a view of how open the hatred is among some people.

“His sickening, shameful and alarming rant not only threatens the lives of Canadians but our very way of life,” B’nai Brith Director of Research and Advocacy Richard Robertson said. “What is becoming of our nation?”

The elected leaders are letting the Jewish community down. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow sprinted to social media to say the right things, the Jewish community has heard these bromides before. They hear Mayor Chow say “enough is enough” and they think enough is enough was a year ago.

They don’t buy anything she or any of the leaders say because they don’t forget Chow missing the one-year anniversary vigil for victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, or Trudeau staying at the Taylor Swift concert in Toronto while pro-Palestinian supporters rioted in Montreal, or how the PM supports the world court’s arrest warrant for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

B’nai Brith Canada called out Mayor Chow on X by posting, “Your continued platitudes in response to antisemitic hate in Toronto ring hollow in the face of your permissive approach to this growing problem. While you are quick to condemn attacks like the abhorrent shooting at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School, you are responsible for enabling an environment where such acts are allowed to flourish. Statements of banal condemnation without concrete action enable hatred to thrive, leaving the Jewish community vulnerable and unsafe.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs added, “It’s time for serious and united action from authorities across Canada because we’re done with attacks on our schools and synagogues and we’re done with photo-ops and platitudes.”

CIJA Vice President Michelle Stock said, “Imagine having to explain to your child why there are bullet holes in their school. Government officials have to understand the time for thoughts and prayers is over.”

Israel Now posted on X that leaders “have normalized attacks against Jews.”

So much so that people are starting to openly discuss if it’s not time to invite Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels back to town and see patrols re-established by the Jewish Defence League. It will be hard to argue against when the current system is unable to keep Jewish people, schools and neighbourhoods safe.

Hate is hate and danger is danger. None of this should be tolerated.

A strong and real message backed up with action has to be sent by Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Ford and Mayor Chow – not just words.

It should be no bail, longer jail sentences when it’s deemed a hate crime, and, if necessary, an emergencies act declaration to protect this school and other places.

And do it now before someone is killed – like the deadly vehicle rampage that happened Friday at a Christmas market in Germany.

jwarmington@postmedia.com