Vivian Bercovici: Belleville shooting is the inevitable result of unchecked Jew-hatred

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SDEROT, Israel — When the most-watched TV station in Israel went back on the air following the end of Yom Kippur on Monday evening, Belleville, Ont., was top of the news.

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A little context may be helpful: Hours before the onset of the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar, a young father of six was murdered in a terror attack. His funeral was held at the close of Yom Kippur, one day later. Iran and its Houthis allies continue to escalate threats and attacks in the Middle East. There’s a lot going on.

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Before Monday night, not many people in Israel had heard of Belleville. That has changed. But it takes a lot these days to shock Israelis, or Jews.

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It took 14 hours for Prime Minister Mark Carney to react with a tepid, detached statement more suited to a routine traffic report. His government colleagues maintained the message discipline, avoiding any strongly worded expressions of shock, horror or disgust, which they customarily deploy when the slightest infraction or prejudice is demonstrated towards other identifiable religious and ethnic groups.

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Approximately 17 hours after 29-year-old Sean Ward, a resident of nearby Quinte West, is alleged to have discharged dozens of bullets from a firearm outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, his name was released to the public. It is noteworthy that, by that point, any social media presence he may have had no longer appeared to exist. Was it scrubbed? If so, by whom?

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At a press conference held Monday at the scene of the shooting, Belleville’s deputy police chief, Sheri Meeks, and Kristy Denette, a communications official with the Ontario Special Investigations Unit, confirmed that the attack had occurred at approximately 7 p.m. ET on Sunday night.

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This was the precise time when the approximately 25 attendees were entering the sanctuary for the beginning of the service. Quickly realizing that they were being attacked, the synagogue’s president told everyone to get on the floor and take cover. Meanwhile, outside, Belleville police officer Jeff Smith, a 13-year veteran of the force, was guarding the building.

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Denette stated that the sequence of events remains unclear, but the outcome is not. Smith is in hospital in critical but stable condition. His quick reaction to Ward’s alleged shooting spree likely averted a massacre in the synagogue. Ward was sent to hospital and pronounced dead on Tuesday.

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On Tuesday, the shooting was being mentioned in Israeli media, more in passing than shock or horror. Once a committed ally of Israel’s, Canada under Carney is seen very differently in this country.

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Violent incitement and hatred targeting Jews in Canada has been “normalized” — the euphemism of the moment. Most political leaders and law enforcement authorities have demonstrated — for three years now — that they are loathe to enforce existing laws to protect Canadian Jews from harassment and violence.