A swastika and “Islam will rule” was scrawled on the walls of Robbins Hebrew Academy, a school for hundreds of elementary school students. Police were called to the scene of the crime at 6 PM on Thursday August 4, 2011 by the building superintendent
The school is attached to Beth Tikvah Synagogue, located in the North York neighborhood of Toronto which has a large population of Jewish residents. The Beth Tikvah Synagogue is a conservative synagogue which was founded in 1964 and the name was influenced by a synagogue in Amsterdam that was razed by the Nazis.
Canada, and specifically Toronto, is no stranger to anti-Semitic incidents. A report by B'nai Brith Canada found there were a total of 1,264 incidents reported across the country in 2009, an 11 per cent increase over the previous year. The largest number of hate incidents occurred in the greater Toronto area which saw 479. Particularly troubling was a doubling of violence in Toronto from seven cases in 2008 to 16 in 2009.
Incidents included death threats to members of the clergy, vandalism of vehicles parked outside a synagogue, and swastikas spray painted on the windows of a store owned by Jews. In August 2009, apartment doors of three Jewish residents of Toronto were defaced with “Hate Jewish swine,” and mezuzahs ripped off door frames.
Recently, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism released a report that concluded that Canada is a fertile ground for anti-Semitism, especially on university campuses. After two years of hearings, the committee called on the federal government to do more to fight anti-Semitism in Canada, which it said is rising, due partly to increased hostility toward Israel.
