Like any decent person, it made me sad to hear that Fredericton’s Sgoolai Israel Synagogue had its entrance windows smashed out over the weekend. At this point police can’t confirm it was a hate crime, but it is a fairly safe assumption, given it happened on the specific Saturday designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

Janet and I wanted to show our support at the vigil we heard about, so we headed downtown to the synagogue to be part of it. But there was no one there. So, then we thought maybe it’s somewhere else, maybe at city hall. So we walked down there and as we were getting close we could see people gathered and there were signs so we figured, yes, this must be it. But as we got closer, we could see this was a pro-Palestinian demonstration with signs about occupation and genocide. So no, this definitely wasn’t it.  

It was then we figured out we had the time wrong and headed up Queen toward Westmorland and back to the synagogue. Sure enough, when we got there, people were starting to gather but as I walked I thought to myself, am I taking sides here? What is this, competing demonstrations? I’m not anti-Palestinian. When did simply trying to be a good person and do the right thing get so complicated? I just wanted to show support to our fellow citizens, not take a political stand.  

Clarification came quickly outside the synagogue when, for whatever reason, Dominic Cardy took charge, telling everyone this is a non-political, non-denominational gathering to show support to our Jewish neighbours and to send the message that violence is never acceptable. Absolutely.  I am certainly down with that.

There were indeed people of every political stripe, or no political stripe, as we all locked arms forming a human chain across the front of the building, and holding that long enough for some photos and video to record it. Then we all squeezed inside, filling the pews, leaving some standing at the back.  

The rabbi and others spoke, all eloquently, including a woman who identified herself as a Jew but also founder of an independent group that included Palestinians, jointly dedicated to understanding and peace. I couldn’t help but notice members of the Palestinian community were at the vigil, in solidarity.  

The woman’s message was well-timed. She noted that both antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise in much of the world and that includes Fredericton.  

I don’t pretend to understand the complicated history of the Middle East. But like most of us, I was horrified by the October 7th attack into Israel by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. And I feel for the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who are subjected daily to the retaliatory shelling by the Israeli military, and its related humanitarian crisis. 

I don’t know the politics of it. But I do know that not every Palestinian supports Hamas any more than every Jewish person agrees with Netanyahu’s retaliation campaign. And I positively know that the members of the synagogue in Fredericton certainly didn’t deserve to be subjected to the vandalism and hate visited upon them, apparently to make them feel afraid.  

I was proud to be part of the cross-section of local folks who came together to support our Jewish community. I hope the message they take from the gesture is that Fredericton has their back.  

Thanks for reading. And if you feel so inclinded, please share.