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Firebomber’s mother put on probation

November 26, 2008

TORONTO (JTA) -- The mother of a man who firebombed a Jewish elementary school in Montreal will not go to jail for trying to help him flee the country.

Rouba Elmerhebi Fahd, who was found guilty in September of being an accessory  to the firebombing of United Talmud Torahs School in April 2004, on Tuesday was given a sentence of 12 months probation. B'nai Brith Canada dismissed the sentence as a slap on the wrist.

No one was injured in the attack, but there was about $500,000 in damages to the school.

Fahd's son, Sleiman Elmerhebi, pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 40 months in prison. Fahd had tried to help him flee the country.

In sentencing Fahd, Quebec Court Judge Robert Marchi said he understood a mother would want to protect her child. But the judge said he was disappointed because Fahd had shown no remorse.

The sentence "sends precisely the wrong signal to Quebec's Jewish community," said Moise Moghrabi, the regional chair of B'nai Brith's League for Human Rights. It was an "insufficient deterrent" and "inappropriate response to a crime whose devastating impact still continues to be felt within the Jewish community.

 "The court unfortunately appears to have focused too much on the criminal and not sufficiently on the many victims."
 

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