For Immediate Release
Montreal (originally released November 30, 2001) — Officials of B’nai Brith Canada reacted with shock and horror to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s deposition of an affidavit filed in a Vancouver Court to extradite Samer ait Mohamed, an alleged terrorist with links to Ahmed Ressam, that they planned to fire bomb neighbourhoods of Montreal’s Jewish community.
Responding to the news of these planned attacks Rochelle Wilner, President of B’nai Brith Canada stated, “The FBI’s revelation that certain parts of Montreal were targeted by terrorists is of real concern. We, as Jews and as Canadians, are fortunate that Ressam’s plot did not come to fruition”.
The Executive Vice-President of B’nai Brith Canada, Frank Dimant, added, “It is disconcerting that the terrorists were aiming at Jewish neighbourhoods or areas they thought were associated with Jews. Moreover, the failed plans to attack a Chassidic community are an unequivocal manifestation of the prevailing antisemitism among these terrorists. This new breed of antisemites hides behind the veil of anti-Zionism, but regardless of the geographic location or the country it is now evidently clear that the focus of these terrorists seems to be deliberate attacks on Jews.”
Prof. Stephen Scheinberg, National Chair of the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada said “it is time for Canada not only to tighten its borders but to show zero tolerance for terrorism and for those who would seek to bring the hatreds of the Middle East to Canada.”
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For further comment contact: Prof. Stephen Scheinberg: (514) 696-5991
B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s senior human rights organization.
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