STE. AGATHE-DES-MONTS — A Jewish community delegation suggested to Ste. Agathe-des-Monts Mayor Laurent Paquette that educating children in cultural diversity might have prevented an apparently hate-motivated incident like the one that occurred in the Laurentian town last month.

The delegation, led by Canadian Jewish Congress’ Quebec region president Victor Goldbloom, included Rabbi Emanuel Carlebach, spiritual leader of the House of Israel Congregation in Ste. Agathe, and Rabbi Chalom Chriqui, director of a kosher holiday resort in Ste. Agathe, and D’Arcy McGee MNA Lawrence Bergman, who owns a vacation home in the town, in addition to several CJC officials.

The meeting at the town hall lasted more than one hour.

CJC also met in Montreal with the area’s police chief, Capt. Gilbert Lafrenière of the provincial Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

Goldbloom said after the meetings that he felt both men are taking very seriously the Aug. 16 assault of Mendy Haouzi, 23, of Montreal, as he walked to the House of Israel for Shabbat services, as well as the concerns of Rabbi Carlebach and other area Jewish residents that intolerance of Jews, especially those who are visibly Jewish, is growing.

“The meetings were frank, constructive and very satisfying. The mayor and police chief are acting thoroughly responsibly and decently,” Goldbloom said.

They, however, do not view the assault as part of a worrisome trend, he added.

“The perception of the mayor and police chief is that this was an isolated incident,” Goldbloom said.

He added that Lafrenière told them the investigation into the incident – as well as other non-violent ones that occurred this summer, such as vandalism and break-ins whose motive are unclear – is continuing.

Goldbloom said: “The investigation appears to be taking a little longer than expected, because they want to make sure they have solid evidence before making an arrest.”

He also understands that other witnesses besides the victim have made statements to police.

The delegation stressed the need for prevention, especially as those involved in the assault may possibly as young as 13, Goldbloom said.

“It’s not enough to say that those responsible should be caught and punished, especially if they are this young,” he said. “It is at least as important to sensitize youth to religious and ethnic differences.”

Goldbloom thinks that the penalty for the perpetrator or perpetrators of this assault, if a minor is involved, should include community service.

He recalled an incident years ago when five youths from South Shore St. Jean sur Richelieu drove into Montreal and attacked a Chassid on the street. Those found guilty were sentenced to community service, which involved getting to know the Jewish community. Goldbloom, as then-president of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, had a hand in overseeing that the fulfillment of that sentence.

Paquette said afterward that there is a need for more contact between Jews and others. “We’ve lived together for close to a century, but we don’t really know the Jewish community,” he said.

CJC hopes to soon also meet with representatives of the local high school and CEGEP to discuss educational ideas, possibly having Jewish community representatives speak there. The two rabbis said they would also like to organize more activities that bring together Jewish and non-Jewish residents together.

Bergman agreed with the educational approach. “This incident is deplorable, but isolated. Any incident of this nature can certainly be treated by education.”

Rabbi Chriqui commented: “Ste. Agathe is a jewel set in the heart of the Laurentians and a model of friendly civic relations, which we must preserve at all cost.”

A delegation from B’nai Brith Canada, Quebec region, also travelled to the Laurentian town last week for meetings with Claude Cousineau, Member of the National Assembly for Bertrand, as well as with SQ investigator Jean-François Lettre, and with André Bouchard, director general of the Commission scolaire des Laurentides, the local French public school board.

It presented its program “Taking Action Against Hate,” a national initiative aimed at building bridges to counter prejudice, for the consideration of the school officials.

The delegation was led by B’nai Brith national legal counsel Steven Slimovitch, and included Rabbi Carlebach and Gerry Phillips, president of the House of Israel.

It’s also encouraging Jewish residents of the Ste. Agathe area to report anti-Semitic incidents to is anti-hate hotline at 1-800-892-2624.

The two Jewish groups have a different interpretation of the situation in Ste. Agathe and surrounding towns.

Allan Adel, national chair of its League for Human Rights, believes there has been an escalation of anti-Semitism, expressed both in criminal acts and in harassment of identifiably religious Jews.

But Goldbloom is urging the matter be put in perspective and not be sensationalized.

“Yes, there have been some problems in recent times, relating in particular to the presence of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Yes, last month there was an episode of physical aggression,” Goldbloom said. “The indications are, however, that the perpetrators were a bunch of adolescents, and that they have no support whatsoever in general public opinion.

“The last three years, particularly, have seen notable progress in interreligious relations in Ste. Agathe.”

Haouzi, an engineering student at McGill University, has told the media that a group of youths threw coins at him and his father and half-brothers, aged 11 and 9, who were visiting from France, as they walked on the town’s main street.

After speaking with them, one of the youths suddenly slapped and then punched him in the face, causing bleeding and a black eye. The boys then laughed, grabbed his kippah and ran away when they heard him ask a passerby to call the police.

Being observant, the men were not carrying cellphones at the time. Haouzi and his father later filed a report with police.