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Montreal Jewish-Owned Restaurant Included on Boycott List Attacked Amid Antisemitic Crime Wave in Canada
Shots were fired at Falafel Yoni, a Jewish-owned restaurant in Montreal, on June 18, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
A Jewish-owned restaurant in Montreal has been attacked after being included on a boycott list created by anti-Israel activists, adding to a long list of Jewish institutions that have been targeted in Canada since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
Falafel Yoni said one of its locations had been targeted, and photos of bullet-sized holes in the windows went viral on social media. Police are reportedly investigating the incident but haven’t yet determined whether the holes were caused by bullets or some kind of projectile. No casualties were reported.
“Thanks so much for the overwhelming amount of support we’ve received in light of our St. Viateur location being targeted last night,” the restaurant said in an Instagram post.
Restaurant owner Yoni Amir said he believes his business was targeted on Tuesday night because he is Jewish and was born in Israel, according to local media.
“It’s very unfortunate, not just for me, but anyone that shares my heritage,” he said.
According to Amir, staff members found the damage on Wednesday morning, and he called the authorities once he was notified.
“Thanks so much for the overwhelming amount of support we’ve received,” said Falafel Yoni. “We’ll be back to business as usual tomorrow.”
The eatery added that, in light of the news of it being attacked, it had received many one-star reviews from politically motivated people who had not eaten at the restaurant.
A specific motive for the attack has not yet been established. It’s “still too early to determine if this is a hate crime,” said Montreal police spokesperson Sabrina Gauthier.
However, the restaurant was included on at least two lists of restaurants to boycott that were created by a number of anti-Israel activist groups in Montreal, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Falafel Yoni was the first business on one of the lists and the third on the other. It was included because the owner allegedly “support[s] a military regime responsible for the genocide of tens of thousands of Palestinians” and visited “occupied Palestine as he wanted to bring ‘Israeli’ cuisine back to Montreal.”
Valerie Plante, the Mayor of Montreal, wrote on X/Twitter that she was “shocked to learn that new acts of violence appear to have been committed with the aim of intimidating the Jewish community of Montreal.”
“Antisemitism and violence, whether expressed in images, words, or gestures, do not represent us and have no place in Montreal,” she said.
Meanwhile, Arif Virani, Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, confirmed that the restaurant was attacked and added, “Jewish people in Canada are being bombarded with violence and hatred. We can’t be complacent. We tabled stricter penalties for violent acts of hate because enough is enough. Hate must stop.”
The incident at Falafel Yoni was just the latest of a long string of attacks on Jewish institutions in Canada that have occurred since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists massacred 1,200 people in southern Israel, took more than 250 hostages, and began the ongoing war in Gaza.
In November, a man shot at a Montreal Jewish school, Yeshiva Gedola, and was subsequently charged.
Then in mid-May, two masked people showed up at a Toronto Chabad girl’s school, Bais Chaya Mushka, and shot a number of rounds at it in the early hours of the morning. Later in the month, gunfire hit the Belz Yeshiva Ketana at the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the attack, writing that he was “disgusted that another Jewish school has been the target of a shooting. Relieved that no one was hurt, but I’m thinking of the parents and community members in Montreal who must be incredibly shaken.”
“This is antisemitism, plain and simple — and we will not let it win,” he said.
Beyond shootings, antisemitism has rocketed in Canada since the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, with massive increases in hate crimes targeting the country’s 335,000-strong Jewish community in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, and several other cities.
In December, newly released police data revealed that, since Oct. 7, Jews had been the victims of 57 percent of all hate crimes in Toronto despite being just 3.6 percent of the Canadian city’s population.
That same month, Canadian officials charged a youth in Ottawa with terrorism offenses over alleged targeting of the Jewish community.
Concerns over antisemitism have also impacted Canadian lawmakers. In March, a Jewish politician who was forced to resign from her cabinet post in the government of British Columbia over remarks she made that were deemed offensive to Palestinians announced her decision to quit the caucus of the ruling left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) in the Canadian province.
Selina Robinson, who had served as minister of post-secondary education, told local news outlets that she could no longer support the government, citing its indifference to antisemitism.
“That’s been my experience,” Robinson told CTV when asked about antisemitism in the NDP caucus. “There’s been history of that. I’m aware of people who have said or done antisemitic things over time. They’ve apologized or not.”
The post Montreal Jewish-Owned Restaurant Included on Boycott List Attacked Amid Antisemitic Crime Wave in Canada first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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HBO Max Acquires US Rights to Scripted Series ‘One Day in October’ About Hamas Attack
Bartender and survivor of the Nova Festival, May Hayat, takes cover as rocket sirens sound, during her first visit to the scene of the attack, on the one-month anniversary of the attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7, near Re’im, Israel, Nov. 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
HBO Max has acquired exclusive rights in the United States to “One Day in October,” a scripted series based on real-life, first-hand accounts from the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“One Day in October” is the first real-time scripted portrayal of personal stories from the massacre in southern Israel, where Palestinians terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages. The attack was the deadliest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
“One Day in October” will debut on HBO Max in the US on Oct. 7, the two-year anniversary of the attack, FOX Entertainment announced on Monday. Filmed on location in Israel, the four-episode series is co-produced by FOX Entertainment Studios in partnership with Israel’s yes TV, the New York-based production company Sparks Go, and Israel’s ZOA Films, in association with Moriah Media.
The series “presents seven emotionally gripping and artistically interwoven narratives of love, courage, sacrifice and survival,” according to a description provided by HBO Max. “From families torn apart to moments of hope emerging in the face of unspeakable tragedy to incredible bravery against the odds, each episode reveals the human cost and resilience born out of chaos. The series portrays the victims’ and survivors’ experiences of that day and is brought to life by a distinguished cast and acclaimed creative team.”
“One Day in October” is created by Daniel Finkelman, founder of the New York-based production company Sparks Go, and Oded Davidoff, who is also the director and writer on the series. Sparks Go helped co-produce the series.
“The tragic events on Oct. 7 had a profound impact on all of us,” said Fernando Szew, president of FOX Entertainment Studios. “From the very beginning, we approached this series with the utmost care, sensitivity, and urgency to ensure that the stories were told with authenticity and respect and paying homage to the victims and the heroic survivors. Oded and the incredible cast, crew and teams at Sparks Go, ZOA, and yes TV have truly created compelling storytelling that we are proud to showcase.”
The cast includes Swell Ariel Or, Noa Kedar, Naomi Levov, Hisham Suliman, Wael Hamdoun, Yuval Semo, Avi Azulay, Naveh Tzur, Yael Abecassis, Moran Rosenblatt, Michael Aloni, Neta Roth, Sean Softi, Lior Ashkenazi, and Uri Perelman. The series features writing by Liron Ben-Shlush, Davidoff, Amir Hasfari, Keren Weissman, Orit Dabush, and Yona Rozenkier. Jim Berk and Sheldon Rabinowitz with Moriah Media are also executive producers on the series.
“For me, film and television have always been more than entertainment, they are a way to bear witness,” said Finkelman. “These are stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary moments. In a time when truth is fragile, the most powerful thing we can do is to appeal to humanity itself. My hope is that these stories will open hearts and spark meaningful conversation.”
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Merz Says Criticism of Israel in Germany Has Become Pretext for Hatred of Jews
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends celebrations of the newly completed renovation of Reichenbach Strasse synagogue in Munich, Germany, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that criticism of Israel was increasingly being used in Germany as a pretext for stoking hatred against Jews.
Speaking at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Central Council of Jews, Merz said that antisemitism had “become louder, more open, more brazen, more violent almost every day” since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the Gaza war.
“‘Criticism of Israel‘ and the crudest perpetrator-victim reversal is increasingly a pretext under which the poison of antisemitism is spread,” he said.
Germany is Israel‘s second biggest weapons supplier after the US, and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, in part because of historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust – a policy known as the “Staatsraison.”
Last month, however, Germany suspended exports of weaponry that could be used in the Gaza Strip because of Israel‘s plan to expand its operations there – the first time united Germany had acknowledged denying military support to its long-time ally.
The decision followed mounting pressure from the public and his junior coalition partner over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
In his speech in Berlin on Wednesday, Merz mentioned his about-turn, saying that criticism of the Israeli government “must be possible,” but added: “Our country suffers damage to its own soul when this criticism becomes a pretext for hatred of Jews, or if it even leads to the demand that Germany should turn its back on Israel.”
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Israeli Anti-Missile Laser System ‘Iron Beam’ Ready for Military Use This Year
Iron Beam laser defense system. Photo: X/Twitter screenshot
A low-cost, high-power laser-based system aimed at destroying incoming missiles has successfully completed testing and will be ready for operational use by the military later this year, Israel’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Co-developed by Elbit Systems and Rafael Advance Defense Systems, “Iron Beam” will complement Israel’s Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow anti–missile systems, which have been used to intercept thousands of rockets fired by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, by Hezbollah from Lebanon, and by the Houthis in Yemen.
Current rocket interceptors cost at least $50,000 each while the cost is negligible for lasers, which focus primarily on smaller missiles and drones. “Now that the Iron Beam’s performance has been proven, we anticipate a significant leap in air defense capabilities through the deployment of these long-range laser weapon systems,” the ministry said.
After years in development, the ministry said it tested Iron Beam for several weeks in southern Israel and proved its effectiveness in a “complete operational configuration by intercepting rockets, mortars, aircraft, and UAVs across a comprehensive range of operational scenarios.”
The first systems are set to be integrated into the military‘s air defenses by year-end, it said.
Shorter-range and less powerful laser systems are already in use.
Iron Beam is a ground-based, high-power laser air defense system designed to counter aerial threats, including rockets, mortars, and UAVs.
“This is the first time in the world that a high-power laser interception system has reached full operational maturity,” said defense ministry Director-General Amir Baram.
Rafael Chairman Yuval Steinitz said that Iron Beam, which is built with the company’s adaptive optics technology, “will undoubtedly be a game-changing system with unprecedented impact on modern warfare.”
For its part, Elbit was working on the development of high-power lasers for other military applications, “first and foremost an airborne laser that holds the potential for a strategic change in air defense capabilities,” CEO Bezhalel Machlis said.