Country-wide, hate crimes are most prevalent in our large metropolitan centres, where populations are more dense and diverse, such as Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal. Over the years, centres have responded with the creation of special hate crime units to varying degrees.
Reflecting this new reality of specialized data collection, the most recent Statistics Canada report on hate crimes in Canada obtained its primary data from the Hate Crime Supplemental Survey, a special survey of hate crimes reported by police services across Canada. The police-reported data revealed that the vast majority of hate crimes in 2006 were motivated by either race and/or ethnicity (61%), religion (27%) or sexual orientation (10%).
The two most alarming facts were that 50% of all racially-motivated hate crimes reported by police targeted Blacks, and nearly 63% of religiously-motivated hate crimes were directed at the Jewish faith; the second most-targeted group was the Muslim faith.
The highest accused group is comprised of youth, aged 12 to 17, at 5.5 persons per 100,000 population, or 38% of all accused in 2006. What might not be so evident is that this same age group is also the largest victimized group, at 2.5 persons per 100,000.
Civil society must also respond to the needs of its community; Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies is diligently constructing a series of antisemitism and anti-racism workshops, primarily directed towards youth and student groups as well as the teachers who help mold our future generations.
While our main office is in Toronto, we pay close attention to our neighbouring provinces and act accordingly via outreach and specialized programming. There has been an increased activity in reported hate crimes since 2000, and more often than not these incidents are reported in Montreal. The following information is a sample of police-reported hate crimes from the past 8 years in the province of Quebec:
2000
July
Harassment: A rabbi was harassed and insulted on a Montreal bus by 10-15 youths. Two women who came to his aid were assaulted and spit upon.
October
Assault: A Jewish man was attacked by two men at a STCUM station in Montreal. He was knocked unconscious and received a concussion. Bystanders intervened when the attackers tried to throw him onto the subway rails.
Rallies: at a pro-Palestinian event, witnesses heard the following chants: “kill the Jews;” placards equating the Star of David with the Nazi swastika were carried by several participants.
2001
January
Newsletter from radical extremist separatist group called “Mouvement de Libération Nationale du Québec” (MLNQ) contained a caricature of a Chassidic Jew, with the following caption: “If Quebecers looked like this people we would also laugh at them”.
March
Concordia University campus: in a political science class, one student witnessed another state in front of the professor: “The Talmud obliges Jews to kill all non-Jews.”
May
Vandalized: Chomedy Synagogue: 14 windows including one stained glass window were shattered.
Assault: Jewish high school students were shot at with a paint ball gun from a moving vehicle just outside school grounds.
June
Vandalized, graffiti, Concordia University campus University campus: “Stop Jewish Apartheid”, “End Jewish Occupation”, “Israel is a racist State”, and Star of David being equated to a swastika.
August
Digital hate: Montreal-based web site
www.islamway.com contained antisemitic messages, including a recruitment call to train in Afghanistan for jihad (holy war).
September
Hate speech: Concordia University Student Union (CSU) publishes article called ‘Uprising’, detailing Israel as terrorist state. Another article by CSU VP Laith Marouf states that the ‘Jewish’ Rector (Frederick Lowry) knows how much money the university owes to Zionists.
October
Hate speech: On Thanksgiving, a visiting priest in Montreal was reported to have delivered a sermon on several occasions alleging that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.
December
Hate speech: Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at McGill University distributed material from the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review, which claimed that Israel was creating an “ethnic bomb” that targeted Muslims but not Jews. A speaker invited by the SPHR at McGill made antisemitic remarks and statements during the question and answer period, accusing Jews of being “Christ killers.”
2002
February
Firebombing: A theatre running a movie with Jewish content is attacked.
March
Assault, Concordia University campus: A Jewish student was choked in front of a Hillel information table, while the perpetrator called out, “F**k you, you Jewish bastards.”
Vandalized, graffiti: A synagogue was defaced.
April
Assault, soccer game: 15 participants overheard shouting “Death to Jews” in Arabic and French throughout the match. At the game’s completion several Arab-speaking youths jumped the fence and assaulted a group of Jewish students, threatening them with knives. Vandalism: At some time between the time of posting and the time of delivery, letters sent by a Synagogue to its board members were marked with symbols equating Jewish Star of David with a swastika.
May
Firebombing, Quebec City: the only synagogue was firebombed by a 27-yr old man, who had also been spotted in the area muttering antisemitic remarks; no injuries.
September
Assault, Concordia University campus: riots surrounding scheduled speech by Benjamin Netanyahu; Rabbis and other Jews were assaulted.
2003
March
Assault: An elderly Jewish woman was pushed and threatened at a local Laundromat by two teenaged girls. The woman was called a “Zionist filthy pig”.
May
Assault: An Orthodox Jewish woman, returning from Synagogue on the Sabbath, was beaten up by four men.
August
Vandalized: Numerous tombstones knocked down in a Jewish cemetery.
2004
February
Hate Speech: A university student called out in a crowded area, “I am not an Arab but I [censored] hate Jews, man”.
March
Hate Speech: An Arab student at an adult educational facility announced to other students, “Now we’re going to kill all the Jews”.
April
Firebombing, United Talmud Torah: Messages taped to building indicated that the vandalism was a response to events in Middle East.
May
Vandalized, graffiti: Cemetery 8 headstones at Black River Memorial Gardens.
Hate Speech: A convoy of cars drove through a predominantly orthodox Jewish neighborhood; the passengers waved Palestinian flags and shouted antisemitic epithets.
Assault: Orthodox Jewish children were pelted by eggs from a moving vehicle.
Hate Speech: Flyers found in public school yards and elsewhere calling for “Killing Juis any wear you find them [sic].”
June
Vandalized: Beth Israel Cemetery, Quebec City; 20 headstones overturned over a 2-day period.
Hate Literature: a university bookstore sells antisemitic material, including Mein Kampf.
September
A French newspaper reporter was accused of being a "lobbyist for Jews" after speaking out against antisemitism in Canada.
2005
January
Antisemitic comments were printed in the media following an agreement - later struck down - to increase the amount of funding received by Jewish schools in the province.
March
Hate speech: A hockey team coach reported to have made antisemitic remarks, comparing Jews to cheats and liars, in front of his teenaged players and their parents.
August
Vandalized: Break and Entry at the Val Morin Orthodox summer camp Synagogue, 60km West of Montreal. 300 holy books desecrated; campers awoke to find many books in toilets and the nearby lake.
2006
September
Firebombing: Masked man with attacks Taldo Yakov Yosef Orthodox school. Damage minimal.
2007
January
Vandalized: Several Arabic-speaking men break window of a kosher restaurant and then throw a lit firecracker inside.
April
Homemade explosive device detonated outside Ben Wieder Jewish Community Centre. No damage; the Centre was closed for Passover.
May
Assault: teenaged religious boy assaulted, knocked unconscious close to Skver-Toldos Jewish Boys School at Ducharme and Bloomfield. This same school was firebombed in 2006.
Assault: Orthodox Jewish woman sitting in her parked car with her infant daughter are pelted with rocks by 2 Arabic-speaking men.
June
Harassment: A visibly Jewish teenager is riding on the bus when three teenagers throw peanuts at him and yell, "Jew, Jew, dirty Jew".
Vandalized: A Rabbi’s summer home razed in Val-David, a 60 minute drive from Montreal.
Vandalized: 3rd fire in less than a month at Val-David summer camp; private home razed.
July
Harassment: A Jewish family discovered a decapitated pig floating in their backyard swimming pool.
Assault: Three men threw rocks at a group of congregants waiting outside their Synagogue, shouted "this is revenge for Lebanon".
Assault: a Jewish bystander is physically assaulted and a Jewish prayer shawl is publicly desecrated at an anti-Israel rally; open support for Hezbollah is expressed from the crowd.
September
Firebombing: Orthodox Jewish school.
Graffiti: A group of teenagers outline a Star of David on the ground using tape, spit on it, and invite other passersby to join in and do the same.
December
At the Liberal Leadership Convention, Delegates are urged not to vote for Bob Rae because his wife is Jewish.
2008
February
Harassment: A Jewish patron at a gas station is spat upon by a fellow customer after being identified as a Jew.
April
Firebombing: a JCC on 2nd night of Passover
May
Assault: Chasidic boy beaten outside the Skver Toldos Jewish School, the school that was firebombed in 2006.
June
Vandalized: Summer home owned by a Jewish family is torched in Val-David.
September
Hate speech, Bouchard-Taylor Commission:
A speaker is recorded as saying there is a “Kosher Food Tax” as part of a “Jewish conspiracy to drive up prices in supermarkets”, which means that Quebecers “have to pay for the Jews”.
A speaker is applauded for saying that immigrants are “buying their way” into Quebec, citing Jews as the worst case because they are “the trampoline of money in the world.”
October
Assault: A Jewish couple was swarmed and assaulted by eight individuals who yell “Jew, Jew”.
November
Hate speech, Bouchard-Taylor commission: A man claims that the accommodation controversy in Quebec “is the fault of the Jews,” alleging they control the justice system.
Digital hate, blog post: Jews “should stop playing the game of little victims in exile and make an effort to become real citizens in the countries where they live”.
Sources:
The sources for the hate incidents reported are Statistics Canada, The B’nai Brith League of Human Rights Reports, The Canadian Jewish News, Sun Media, The Montreal Gazette, The Suburban, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, CBC News (online archives), The Ottawa Citizen, and The National Post.
Topic: Montreal Antisemitism (Read 367 times)