‘Sentencing of mother of UTT bomber sends precisely wrong signal, says B’nai Brith Quebec Region

Posted On 11/25/08
‘Sentencing of mother of UTT bomber sends precisely wrong signal, says B’nai Brith Quebec Region

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MONTREAL, November 25, 2008 – B’nai Brith Canada-Quebec Region has characterized the 12-months probation handed down earlier today to Rouba Elmerhebi Fahd as a “punishment that does not befit the seriousness of the crime”. In September, a Quebec court convicted her of being an accessory after the fact in her son's firebombing of the United Talmud Torahs Jewish Day School in St. Laurent, which the trial judge qualified as a “terrorist act”.

“This outcome sends precisely the wrong signal to Quebec’s Jewish community that is increasingly the target for hate crimes,” said Moise Moghrabi, Regional Chair of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights. “The sentence today is an insufficient deterrent and effectively enables the mother to avoid facing the consequences of her actions. It is an inappropriate response to a crime whose devastating impact still continues to be felt within the Jewish community. The court unfortunately appears to have focused too much on the criminal and not sufficiently on the many victims.

“It has been more than four years since the initial UTT firebombing that shook the Jewish community to its core. And yet, this incident is as fresh in our minds today as it was all those years ago. Each and every time the Jewish community is singled out for hatred, we are reminded of this particular incident and the ongoing threats the community continues to face.

“Ms. Elmerhebi was convicted as an accessory after the fact in connection to a dangerous criminal offence and her sentence should have reflected the full weight of her role in this violent act of hatred designed to terrorize the Jewish community.”

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For further information contact, Sharon Bitensky, Assistant Regional Director
B’nai Brith Canada, Quebec Region at (514) 733-5377 ext. 23 or 984-4475 (cell)
B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish community’s
foremost human rights organization