To the surprise of no one, the man responsible for trying to kill Jews at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario harbored hatred towards Jews.
He evidently became radicalized when he began subscribing to conspiracy theories blaming Jews for COVID. Because of these beliefs, the gunman refused to be vaccinated and would be discharged from the Canadian military in 2022.
Those same beliefs would drive him to try to kill Jews, and he might have succeeded if not for Constable Jeff Smith who ended up killing the assailant. Smith was seriously wounded and his wife says he faces a long road to recovery.
But I have no doubt that Belleville's Jewish community, the Jewish community across Canada and non-Jewish Canadians will see to it that Constable Smith gets everything he and his family needs for his valor.
Of course, the congregants of Sons of Jacob Synagogue should not have needed to have police protection for being Jewish. Unfortunately, so long as Jew hatred flourishes and public officials tolerate anti-Semitism in our political discourse such as the belief that Jews are somehow responsible for COVID and all other of society's ills then we can expect more violence and more brave souls like Constable Jeff Smith to put a stop to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment