Close to Home: The Rise of Antisemitism in Canada

Image courtesy of Dave Sidaway, Montreal Gazette, “Hundreds of Montrealers, many carrying Israeli flags, gathered at Westmount Square Tuesday, October 10, 2023, to remember those killed in Israel.”

Editor’s Note: This section of the paper focuses on providing updates regarding current world conflicts. We want to emphasize that the articles are published with the intent to educate our community and provide reliable information that we can each use as a starting point to learn about current world events. Each student is entitled to their own opinion and we welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have. We must remember now more than ever, that religious intolerance of any kind has no place at Branksome Hall, or in our society. To fulfill our commitment to inclusiveness and community, we must continue listening to others and being empathetic and open to differing points of view.

On Friday, November 17, 2023, approximately 1,300 students at Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, a Jewish high school in North York, were evacuated from the school as a precaution to a bomb threat received around 11:15 a.m. that morning. According to Dr. Jonathan Levy, the head of the school, the threat came as an email with the subject line: “Death by fire”. It claimed: “Multiple bombs have been placed in your buildings, and in your car lot. Many Jews will die today.” 

After students were evacuated to Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue, a large police force, including the K9 unit, searched the school building before determining there was no further threat to the community. “Police said they were investigating the source of the threat but provided no further details as to its possible origins” (Toronto CityNews). This was the second time in just under a month that a threat was made against Tanenbaum CHAT. Earlier in mid-October, one adult male and two teenage boys were charged for making threatening remarks to a group of Jewish students outside of the school, according to The Globe and Mail. Head of Tanenbaum CHAT, Levy, told reporters: “As a community, we are incredibly upset and outraged that these kinds of antisemitic events continue to take place and we think that it is essential that all Torontonians and all Canadians react with shock and anger and upset to these kinds of events. All of our students, all staff, all people deserve to live in an environment where they can come to school and go to work free of these kinds of threats.” 

As police forces across Canada’s major cities are reporting, there has been a dramatic rise in hate crimes in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war which aggravated religious and cultural tensions. Toronto’s Police Chief Myron Demkiw says hate crime reports in general rose by 132% in less than two weeks following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel (CBC News). “12 of 14 reported hate crimes relate to antisemitism,” said Chief Myron Demkiw to CBC News (quote reported on October 19, 2023).

Rapid rise in antisemitic hate crimes across Canada since October 7th

TORONTO – The incidents at Tanenbaum CHAT are not stand-alone cases. There have been several alarming instances of antisemitic hate crimes and intimidation committed within our own city. This has come in many forms: intimidating Jews in their homes, schools, community centres, and businesses, ripping sacred mezuzahs from doorposts, scrawling stars of David soaked in blood, hate mail, death threats – the list regretfully goes on.

Natalia Birnbaum and Moshe Birnbaum, a Torontonian Jewish couple, were returning from a pro-Israel rally with an Israeli flag on their car when they experienced a hate crime. “Some car pulls up to me, rolled down the window, pointed at my Israeli flag that I had on my car from the rally and said, ‘F you, F your mother,’ pulled gum out of his mouth and threw it at me,” said Moshe Birnbaum. “It’s so important for people to understand that while what’s happening in the Middle East may be complicated, this isn’t. This is hatred targeting Jewish people in Toronto and there’s one response to that,” Noah Shack, vice-president at the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto, said in response to what the Birnbaums experienced. 

Due to the the alarming surge in hate crimes, CTV News reports “synagogues and mosques throughout the country are amping up security measures to protect their communities.” A social media post by the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto said these recent incidents further highlight the need for Jewish institutions to maintain a high level of “readiness and security”. Indeed, “Police forces across the GTA have increased patrols around Jewish communities as well as cultural centres, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship” (Toronto City News). Toronto police also launched an online portal where people can report hate-motivated graffiti. Chief Myron Demkiw announced that the police force’s specialised hate-crime unit has recently expanded to include 20 investigators and 8 “special” constables, up from a team of just 6 officers. “We have been clear and we remain resolute that Toronto Police Service will not tolerate acts of violence, intimidation or hate toward anyone or any community,” Chief Myron Demkiw told CBC News. 

When speaking with CTV News, Professor Anna Shternshis said it’s “astonishing” how quickly the atmosphere on college campuses became “toxic” for Jewish students and faculty. Shternshis is the director of The Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. She describes peers and teachers asking Jewish members of the community to explain Israel’s actions and state their own beliefs. Shternshis says: “One thing that is never okay is to equate actions of a country with people who are assumed to have some sort of loyalty to that country, even if they have citizenship of that country.”

Dara Solomon, executive director of the Toronto Holocaust Museum says: “I think it’s quite unprecedented, the way the community is feeling.” Going on to note that especially for members of the Jewish community born after the Holocaust, she says, many thought we were “beyond these sorts of problems” in modern society.

WATERLOO – Rising antisemitic demonstrations have spread fear within Jewish communities who now may be cautious about being open with their way of life. “I don’t want people to be too scared to participate in community life,” Rabbi Moishe Goldman, Jewish chaplain of the Rohr Chabad Centre for Jewish Life told CTV News. Goldman also notes an increase in police presence and security for his community in Waterloo, Ontario. “I want them [Jewish people] to be able to continue to gather with their community because when it’s difficult times that’s one of the things that gets you through it,” Goldman said, “Both spiritually and psychologically, it’s very important to get together with your people”. 

OTTAWA – The story is no different in Ottawa. In October 2023, “Ottawa police charged three people with mischief after they allegedly spray-painted hate symbols on the walls of a parking garage in the city’s downtown core” (National Post). Within the same week of the mischief charge, police also investigated an anonymous bomb threat made against the Ottawa Jewish Community School, a private school for students from JK to Grade 8.

MONTREAL – In Montreal, the list of suspected hate crimes targeting Jewish institutions, including gunshots fired on empty Jewish schools and Molotov cocktails ignited at a synagogue, has the city’s police department ramping up preventative operations. Asher Tannenbaum, a ritual director of Shaare Zion Beth-El Congregation, a synagogue in Montreal, says vigilance has become a major priority. Places of worship have changed their practices to protect their communities and continue with some sense of normalcy. “We have the security guard twice a day — in the morning when we have morning service, and when we have evening services. All our external doors are locked. We only have one door that we open and close. We have other entrances, but we keep it to one entrance,” Tannenbaum said. A volunteer committee of community members stands with security guards on Saturdays to help identify regulars. Tannenbaum said antisemitism is all too familiar in Montreal: “Last September somebody painted Swastikas on a Jewish school,”.

MONCTON – In New Brunswick, according to the National Post, police arrested a 19-year-old man after a playground in Riverview, a town of about 20,000 people, was spray-painted with swastikas.

CALGARY – With war-related demonstrations happening in cities all over the country, there have been reports of protesters with swastikas and other hateful symbols, or making bigoted or violent remarks to Jews. This has put some people “on edge,” said Adam Silver, CEO of the Calgary Jewish Federation. “There are calls for violence against Jews. There are chants, and statements, and symbols that are being used, from rallies to posters to online, that certainly suggest there is a heightened concern there,” Silver said to The Globe and Mail. 

Jewish people are the primary target of religious hate crimes in Canada

The further horrifying truth is that antisemitism has been prevalent in Canada long before the recent events. According to the Canadian Government, Canada is home to the fourth-largest Jewish community in the world. Data collected by Statistics Canada reveals that Jewish people are the most targeted religious group for hate crimes (Government of Canada Data: 2020, 2021, 2022) even though they only make up about 1% of Canada’s total population. 

Statistics Canada’s report determined that the Black and Jewish populations were the most frequently targeted by hate crimes, representing 23% and 14% of all reported incidents, respectively (note that not all incidents of hate crimes are reported). The Muslim population also saw a rise in reported hate crimes from 2020 to 2021 with a 69% increase, and are represented 3.02 of total reported crimes in 2022 (Government of Canada). 

According to the 2021 Census Data, 0.9% of Canada’s total population was Jewish. That same year (2021), Statistics Canada reported that of all religiously motivated hate crimes, 55.5% were targeted at Jews. This was a 49% increase in Jewish targeted hate crimes with 492 reports in 2021 compared to 331 reports in 2020. In 2022, this number rose further to 69.9% of all religiously motivated hate crimes were targeted at Jews with 502 reports out of 3,576 total reported reports. “This means that on average, more than one hate incident targeted Canada’s Jewish community every day”. In response to the report by Statistics Canada, Shimon Koffler Fogel, President and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) “stressed that combating antisemitism is not solely the responsibility of Canadian Jews; it requires a united effort from all Canadians”.

“In 2021, the B’nai Brith 2021 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents revealed a sixth consecutive year increase in antisemitic hate crimes, a 7.2% increase in incidents, with 2,799 occurring in total of antisemitic hate crimes and incidents combined.” (Government of Canada). 

“The True North strong and free”

Respect, peace, and security are basic fundamental rights that all Canadians deserve. So long as we continue to put Canada on a pedestal for safety and diversity, and consider ourselves a model for the rest of the world – we need to hold ourselves accountable for the hatred that members of our society experience here at home. 

In his acceptance speech of the World Jewish Congress’s highest honour, Brian Mulroney reminds us of the duty we have as Canadians to protect one another and abide by an intolerance of hatred. Mulroney said: “We are home for millions who have sought sanctuary and a fresh beginning far removed from the savage winds of violence which afflict so many parts of the world. There is no word in the English language more comforting, more welcoming than home. More than a place, it conjures up the primal human need for sanctuary and acceptance, and more than anything else, the word home evokes a sense of belonging. In the final analysis, Jews are our fellow citizens; they are our friends; they are our neighbours. And this is their home. But until they feel safe and accepted, it will never, in any complete sense, be home for anyone.”

Works Cited

CBC News. 2023. “Hate Crime Reports up 132% amid Israel-Gaza Conflict, Toronto Police Chief Says.” CBC News, October 19, 2023. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hate-crime-rise-israel-gaza-1.7001288.

Consky, Mitchell. 2023. “‘We’re Just More Vigilant,’ Synagogue and Mosque Leaders in Canada Say amid Rise in Hate Crimes.” CTVNews, November 3, 2023. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/we-re-just-more-vigilant-synagogue-and-mosque-leaders-in-canada-say-amid-rise-in-hate-crimes-1.6630632.

DeClerq, Katherine. 2023. “Police Investigating after Bomb Threat Made to Toronto Jewish School.” CP24, November 17, 2023. https://www.cp24.com/news/police-investigating-after-bomb-threat-made-to-toronto-jewish-school-1.6649955.

Duhamel, Frédérik-Xavier, and Alanna Smith. 2023. “Antisemitism a Growing Concern after Spike in Hate-Related Incidents.” The Globe and Mail, November 14, 2023. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-antisemitism-a-growing-concern-after-spike-in-hate-related-incidents/.

Freeman, Joshua. 2023. “‘Unprecedented’: Antisemitism in Toronto Has Skyrocketed in the Wake of the Israel-Hamas War.” CTVNews Toronto, November 12, 2023. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/unprecedented-antisemitism-in-toronto-has-skyrocketed-in-the-wake-of-the-israel-hamas-war-1.6641807.

Government of Canada. 2023a. “Factsheet – Antisemitism in Canada.” Canada.ca. Government of Canada. February 2, 2023. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/corporate/transparency/open-government/standing-committee/ahmed-hussen-pch-contract-cmac/antisemitism-canada.html.

Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. 2023b. “Police-Reported Hate Crimes, by Detailed Motivation, Canada, 2020 to 2022.” Statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. July 27, 2023. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230727/t006b-eng.htm.

Klein, Zvika. 2023. “Jews Remain the Primary Target of Hate Crimes in Canada.” The Jerusalem Post, August 3, 2023. https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-753506. 

Lieberman, Caryn. 2023. “‘It’s Antisemitic’: Graffiti at Toronto Starbucks Cafe Concerns Community.” Global News, November 17, 2023. https://globalnews.ca/news/10096794/toronto-starbucks-cafe-antisemitic-graffiti/.

Marchesan, John. 2023. “‘Death by Fire’: Police Evacuate Jewish School in North York Following Emailed Bomb Threat.” CityNews Toronto, November 17, 2023. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/11/17/jewish-school-in-north-york-evacuated-threat/.

National Post Staff. 2023. “Hate Symbols, Bomb Threats, Death Threats: Concerns about Increase in Antisemitism in Canada.” National Post, November 2, 2023. https://nationalpost.com/news/hate-symbols-bomb-threats-death-threats-concerns-about-increase-in-antisemitism-in-canada.

Ranger, Michael, and Kaitlin Lee. 2023. “Toronto Police Seeing ‘Alarming’ Rise in Antisemitic, Islamophobic Hate Crimes.” CityNews Toronto, November 6, 2023. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/11/06/toronto-hate-crimes-antisemitism-islamophobia-police/.

Statistics Canada. 2022. “The Canadian Census: A Rich Portrait of the Country’s Religious and Ethnocultural Diversity.” Statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. October 26, 2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026b-eng.htm.