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ciroccoj- I'll be impressed if anyone can name that quote.
- Just finished final class in Legislation. We were supposed to do review, but the ventilation system is broken, the room was unbearably hot, and nobody had the previous year's exams, so the prof let us out early. Whee!
- Ventilation system out through the whole school. Library smells like fish. And feet. ::gagging::
- People suck.
2004-04-07 / Associated Press /
A fire destroyed library books and damaged a library computer system at a Montreal Jewish elementary school on the eve of the Passover holiday, and police found anti-Semitic notes taped to the school's walls.
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said the United Talmud Torahs school, which was closed at the time of the blaze Monday, was firebombed.
Montreal police spokesman Yves Surprenant refused to say how the blaze started or provide details about the notes' contents, except to say they were signed by an unknown organization.
Surprenant said it was "the most deplorable act'" he has ever seen.
"What was written on the notes really told us it was a hate crime," he said.
Quebec's French-language TVA television network reported that the notes denounced recent Israeli attacks against Palestinians, including the killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder of the Islamic Hamas movement.
CTV News quoted a portion of the letter Monday: "Our goal was only to sound the alarm without causing deaths. . . .but this is just a beginning. If your crimes continue in the Middle East, our attacks will continue."
Sidney Benudiz, head of the school, called the fire "an act of terrorism, plain and simple." He said the school has had some graffiti and minor vandalism in the past.
Martin said the firebombing was an "attack on freedom."
Setting fire to "a place of learning, where young children gather is an offense against all that Canadians cherish," the prime minister said.
The attack follows a recent spate of anti-Semitic violence in Toronto.
Three Toronto teenagers were charged after several vandals toppled headstones at a Jewish cemetery and spray-painted anti-Semitic slogans on a synagogue. In a separate incident, a 46-year-old man was arrested after a Star of David, an equal sign and a swastika were sprayed on construction boarding in west-end Toronto.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who attended a branch of the Talmud school, said the attack was part of increased trend in anti-Semitism, both in Canada and worldwide.
Canada "will not be silent and we will not be intimated and we will act and we will bring the full force of law to bear against those who would commit these cowardly acts of racist, hate crimes," he said. - But not all of them. The other day I was telling my mom and her husband Guy about my Constitutional prof from last year, who assisted in the Vriend v. Alberta case at the Supreme Court. I explained that Vriend was a prof at a private college who was fired after revealing he was gay. He sued the college, which replied that since it was a private institution, under Alberta law it did not have to respect Charter rights.
"Well... that's not fair," said Guy slowly. "That's not fair. It's still discrimination, doesn't matter whether it's a private or public college, they shouldn't be allowed to do that."
Guy, BTW, is a 73-yr old Franco-Ontarian who worked in a pulp factory for about 40 years. Not the kind of person you'd think would care about the rights of openly gay college professors. Proving once more that you can't judge a book by its cover ;) - Going home. It's too damn hot in here.
ARG
Date: 2004-04-08 05:52 pm (UTC)Sarah
Re: ARG
Date: 2004-04-08 06:34 pm (UTC)Does imagining Robin Williams' voice make it easier?
That is soooo cruel, Jim!
We aim to tease ;)
Re: ARG
Date: 2004-04-08 06:48 pm (UTC)Re: ARG
Date: 2004-04-08 06:53 pm (UTC)