Outpouring of love and solidarity needed in wake of Pittsburgh synagogue attack

The massacre two Saturdays ago at a Pittsburgh synagogue is heartbreaking. Eleven worshippers — all of them elderly and/or disabled — were mowed down by a gunman spewing anti-Semitic hatred. An attack on a peaceful place of worship should be unthinkable, but as Quebecers know all too well, it is not.

As with the 2017 mosque attack in Quebec City, which took six lives, the response has been an outpouring of love and solidarity.

And that is exactly what is needed at a time like this — now, and always. It’s the best response to the anti-Semites and other haters who continue to live among us — that, along with vigilant security, proactive police work and investigative reporting that uncovers the activities of those hoping to organize below the radar. As the Montreal Gazette reported earlier this year, neo-Nazis and white supremacists have been operating from this city, linking up with each other online and then meeting in real life. While they are small in number, even one armed fanatic can take a horrible toll.

Judging from the social media accounts associated with the Pittsburgh gunman, the attack appears to have been motivated by a hatred stemming from misplaced fear of the “other,” as hatred so often does. There was particular animus directed at an American Jewish organization that helps refugees and immigrants of all backgrounds, in keeping with Jewish values. The final message: “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered.”

While the synagogue attack was the action of one criminal, discourse that sows fear of “invaders” is all too common. In the United States, no less than U.S. President Donald Trump, who spoke so firmly and eloquently against antiSemitism and antiSemitic violence this weekend, has throughout his political career unfairly associated “illegal immigrants” with criminality and violence, fanning the fears of the American public.

Canada, too, has seen anti-migrant discourse; fears of “us” being changed by an invading “them.” While outright hatred is mercifully marginal, fear and apprehension about influxes of immigrants and refugees are not. Fear of the “other” also underlies some of the support for the new Quebec government's proposed restrictions on signs of religion for certain public employees, a policy that has left many Quebec Jews, Muslims and Sikhs feeling excluded and vulnerable.

It is heartening to see people of all faiths, and of none, shoulder to shoulder, holding candles to light the darkness, at vigils in many cities, including this one. This is a time not only to mourn, but also to stand in solidarity.

While the synagogue attack was the action of one criminal, discourse that sows fear of “invaders” is all too common.

— Montreal Gazette