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Montreal’s oldest synagogue building vandalized with swastikas
MONTREAL (JTA) — Vandals defaced Quebec province’s oldest synagogue building with Nazi swastikas over the weekend, prompting a Canadian Jewish watchdog to call on Montreal mayor Valérie Plante to do more to fight antisemitism.
Leaders of the Bagg Street Synagogue — located just off of Saint Laurent Boulevard in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, at the former heart of Montreal’s Jewish community — reportedly met Wednesday with Montreal police’s hate crimes unit. Photos taken by B’nai Brith Canada show swastikas spray painted on the synagogue’s front doors.
The Bagg Street synagogue, or Congregation Temple Solomon, traces its history back to 1906. But it moved into its current location in 1921, where it has remained and become the oldest synagogue building in continual use in Quebec. It inherited furnishings from the historic Shaar Hashomayim synagogue when that congregation moved to a new location in 1922, according to archivist Hannah Srour-Zackon.
I’m the synagogue archivist at Montrel’s Shaar Hashomayim, and I care deeply about the history of synagogues. With current media attention on Montreal’s historic Bagg Street Shul following the antisemitic graffiti, I’d like to celebrate the positive aspects of its history (1/5) pic.twitter.com/EnZrbypODC
— Hannah Srour-Zackon (@srour_hannah) March 29, 2023
While formal membership has dwindled, the Bagg Street synagogue holds free holiday services and welcomes tourists visiting to explore the city’s former Jewish neighborhood. In the first half of the 20th century, a Jewish immigration boom led to the establishment of at least a dozen synagogues in the area.
Bagg Street is the only one that remains. Montreal’s Holocaust museum is planning to move into a new location in the neighborhood by 2025.
“While the congregation is small, the synagogue evokes Jewish history in Montreal and the attack on it is causing dismay in the community,” Marvin Rotrand, a former city councilor who now is national director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights, wrote in a letter to Plante. He urged Plainte to be “more proactive in combating antisemitism.”
“I am wholeheartedly with the Jewish community and I strongly condemn these antisemitic acts which have no place in our society,” Plainte tweeted.
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The post Montreal’s oldest synagogue building vandalized with swastikas appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Trump Threatens to Hit Iran Infrastructure on Tuesday if Strait Remains Blocked
US President Donald Trump arrives to award the medal of honor to Master Sgt. Roderick ‘Roddie’ W. Edmonds, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 02 March 2026.
US President Donald Trump said in an expletive-laden social media post on Sunday that the United States will target Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump said in a Truth Social post, referencing the key shipping lane that Tehran has effectively closed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran more than a month ago.
“Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!,” Trump said, ending his Easter morning post with: “Praise be to Allah.”
The president separately said he would hold a news conference on Monday in the Oval Office, after the US military rescued two US pilots whose aircraft were downed in Iran.
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Zelensky in Syria to Discuss Security Cooperation with Sharaa
FILE PHOTO: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looks on during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to work for enhanced security in talks on Sunday with his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa, as Kyiv seeks to promote its military expertise across the region following the outbreak of the Iran war.
Zelensky, continuing his tour of Middle East countries, also said Ukraine wants to contribute to food security in the region.
In recent weeks, Zelensky has visited several countries across the Middle East, offering Ukrainian expertise in countering drone and missile attacks, developed during its four-year war with Russia.
“We agreed to work together to provide more security and opportunities for development for our societies,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “There is a great interest in exchanging military and security experience.”
Zelensky told the Syrian leader that Ukraine, as a major grain producer, was a reliable supplier of food and said the two leaders “discussed joint opportunities to strengthen food security across the region.”
In Turkey on Saturday, Zelensky said he had agreed on “new steps” in security cooperation with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and discussed opportunities in joint gas infrastructure projects and gas field development.
“Today in Damascus we continue our active Ukrainian diplomacy aimed at real security and economic cooperation,” Zelensky said on X after his arrival.
It was the Ukrainian leader’s first trip to Syria since diplomatic relations were re-established at the end of last year following the fall of Syria’s long-time strongman Bashar al-Assad.
Zelensky’s talks with Sharaa were linked to defense in light of the US-Israeli war in Iran, said one Syrian source, a government adviser. Syria is not known to have any air defenses capable of dealing with Iranian drones or missiles.
During Zelensky’s visits to Gulf states last weekend, Ukraine signed long-term military cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and he said that a similar agreement was close to completion with UAE.
Syria is home to two major Russian military bases, used by its navy and air force. Sharaa said on Tuesday at an event in Chatham House in London that work was under way to transform these into “centers to train the Syrian army.”
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China Ready to Cooperate with Russia to Ease Middle East Tension, Foreign Minister Says
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo
China is willing to continue to cooperate with Russia at the UN Security Council and make efforts to cool down the Middle East situation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a phone call on Sunday.
Wang said the fundamental way to resolve navigation issues in the Strait of Hormuz is to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible, adding that China has always advocated political settlement of hotspot issues through dialogue and negotiation.
The foreign ministers’ call came ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
As permanent UNSC members, China and Russia should “adopt an objective and balanced approach and seek to win greater understanding and support from the international community,” Wang told Lavrov, according to a statement from his ministry.
China has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Gulf region and Middle East, urging an end to the fighting that has run for more than a month and largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping artery for oil and gas.