TORONTO - Several Israeli flags were set on fire outside a Christian centre in Toronto early Wednesday morning, in an incident now being investigated as hate-motivated.
It’s the latest in a string of incidents targeting the Jewish community in Canada.
“What we’re seeing is a progression,” said Daniel Korobkin, senior rabbi at Toronto’s Beth Avraham Yoseph, a synagogue that was struck by gunfire in March.
“It heightens, and then it gets to violence … not just against structures and inanimate objects, but violence against people. And unfortunately, we know where this is all headed because we’ve seen it happen in other parts of the world.”
Attacks against the Jewish community have increased since the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza. Korobkin says what began as words has turned into violence, which includes the shooting at a Belleville, Ont., synagogue on Yom Kippur that left two police officers injured and the suspect dead.
“What’s been terrifying is the pace at which these antisemitic attacks are escalating,” said Sara Lefton, chief development officer with the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of Greater Toronto. “We are not just going to see it targeting the Jewish community … but Canadian society as a whole, because what starts with the Jewish community does not end with the Jewish community.
“This is where I think Canadians need to pay real attention, because it is our shared way of life that is under attack,” she added.
According to Statistics Canada, there were 788 police-reported hate crimes targeting Jewish people last year, making up 71 per cent of all religiously motivated hate crimes.
While last year’s figures are down from the surge in antisemitic hate crimes reported in the two years after the Oct. 7 attacks, they remain nearly 50 per cent higher than in 2022.
In response to the rise in antisemitism, security has been stepped up around synagogues and Jewish community centres. This year, the federal government also passed the Combatting Hate Act, which includes stiffer penalties for hate-motivated crimes.
Still, some groups say more needs to be done, warning that the situation could soon escalate further.
“When we’ve seen bullets into buildings, the next step is bullets into bodies,” said Simon Wolle, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada. “The question we have to ask ourselves … are we going to wait to be reactive to tragedy in this country, or are we going to take the required steps to say enough is enough and demand accountability?”
