Toronto synagogue faces ongoing vandalism, seventh attack in months

DECEMBER 3, 2024 20:05

A window is pictured with the Star of David in a new synagogue in Cottbus, Germany (photo credit: REUTERS) — A window is pictured with the Star of David in a new synagogue in Cottbus, Germany

(photo credit: REUTERS)

Kehillat Shaarei Torah has had its windows smashed with rocks, hammers, its signs graffitied and set on fire, and a dead raccoon placed on its property.

A Toronto synagogue was vandalized for the seventh time since April on Sunday night, the synagogue and the Toronto Police Service (TPS) reported.

Large anti-Israel decals reading “genocide” were placed on the Jewish National Fund and United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto signs on the property of Kehillat Shaarei Torah, said Michael Gilmore, the synagogue’s executive director. The perpetrator later returned to photograph what he had done, he said.

Kehillat Shaarei Torah's windows and doors were smashed with hammers on April 19 and May 17. On June 30, a motorcyclist threw rocks through the windows of Kehillat Shaarei Torah and the Pride of Israel synagogue.

Kehillat Shaarei Torah’s signs were set on fire by a motorcyclist on July 31, Gilmore said. They had been replaced after they were previously spray-painted. A dead raccoon had been placed on the synagogue’s grounds, he said.

“Despite these acts of antisemitism and hate, our community has remained united in love and support for one another, with our moral convictions stronger than ever,” Gilmore told The Jerusalem Post. “There is a strong attempt in Canada to scare Jewish people away from our institutions and to feel isolated and alone. That’s how they think they can eliminate us, but we are not going anywhere.”

antisemitic graffitie in Toronto Jewish neighborhood (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

The TPS said its Hate Crimes Unit was investigating this week’s incident.

The Toronto police have been “very helpful and understanding” over a year of “ongoing threat of intimidation and aggression” against the congregation, but elected leaders had not empowered law enforcement to act effectively, Gilmore said.

“I hope that one day, Mayor Olivia Chow and other elected officials throughout all levels of government, including our prime minister, take what is happening to the Jewish community here seriously,” he said. “Up until now, it has been nothing but lip service.”

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Repeated issues of antisemtism in Toronto

Other Toronto synagogues have also been targeted by vandals with arson and stoning. Jewish schools have also been targeted in the swell of antisemitic incidents since the October 7 massacre.

A young adult and a minor were arrested on October 17 in connection with the October 12 drive-by shooting at the Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School, the second time it had been shot at this year. There were no casualties, but the school sustained some damage.

There were 135 antisemitic incidents in 2023 – 130 of them anti-Jewish and five anti-Israeli – compared with 65 in 2022, according to the Hate Crime Unit’s 2023 Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report. Most of the reported incidents were “mischief to property” offenses.

Mathilda Heller and the Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.