Anti-Semitic violence is out of control in Canada

Montreal is not what it used to be. During a visit to Canada’s second most-populous city earlier this year, one thing stood out to me – the huge volume of pro-Palestinian posters, on walls and shop windows, denouncing Israel’s war against Hamas. One read: ‘Manif de solidarité envers le peuple Palestinien (demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinian people).’ Another declared ‘Free Gaza Now’, alongside a cartoon protester wearing a red and white keffiyeh.

On the face of it, these posters made Montreal no different than any other big Western city, such as London or Berlin. What I didn’t understand at the time, however, is that Montreal also happens to be home to a 90,000-strong Jewish community, the second-largest in Canada. Remarkably, since the 7 October Hamas terror attack, the city has become one of the most dangerous places for Jews in North America.

According to an annual audit by B’nai Brith, incidents of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and violence in Canada increased by 109 per cent in 2023 when compared with 2022. More recently, Montreal police recorded a total of 191 ‘hate crimes and hate incidents’ against Jewish communities over the past nine months alone.

Similar increases have occurred across the West since 7 October, but the situation in Canada is particularly dire. The war in Gaza seems to have amplified the targeting of Jewish institutions, businesses, students and other individuals across the entire country.

Jewish schools have become a particular target for anti-Semitic violence. In May this year, Belz Yeshiva Ketana at the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue – a Jewish school in Montreal – was hit with gunfire. This was actually the second attack on a Canadian Jewish school within the span of a few days. The week before, two masked men jumped out of a vehicle and fired shots at Bais Chaya Mushka – a Jewish girls’ school in Toronto. Between these two horrific incidents, a man was charged for shooting at another Jewish school, Yeshiva Gedola in Montreal, last November. Gedola was attacked not once, but twice within a single week. Luckily, none of these incidents resulted in injuries.

Following the second attack, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau posted on X that he was ‘disgusted that another Jewish school has been the target of a shooting’. ‘This is anti-Semitism, plain and simple’, he wrote, ‘and we will not let it win’.

Disgust and condemnation alone, however, will not solve this growing problem. Indeed, since Trudeau’s remarks, acts of anti-Semitism have only continued. In May, a man set fire to a synagogue entrance in Vancouver. The following month, two synagogues in Toronto were attacked, their windows smashed with rocks.

Some high-profile Canadian Jews are speaking up about the surge in anti-Jew violence since 7 October. Last month, Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, wrote on X:

‘They shot at the Montreal synagogue where I had my Bar Mitzvah. They shot at my brothers’ Hebrew school. They’re attacking Jewish community institutions from Toronto to Vancouver. Hard to believe: my native Canada is now one of the most dangerous countries for Jews in the free world.’

Universities have not been spared by this wave, either. Earlier this year, the heads of McGill University and Concordia University acknowledged that anti-Semitism is a ‘significant problem’ on their campuses, while giving evidence to a government hearing. Students at both universities told reporters that they were forced to hide their Jewish identities, fearing for their safety amid rising anti-Semitism on campus.

Sadly, these fears are more than justified. Since 7 October, ‘pro-Palestine’ protesters on Canadian campuses have been heard singing a variety of anti-Semitic chants, from ‘Go back to Poland’ to ‘Say it loud, say it clear, we don’t want no Zionist here’. Others bellowed: ‘Intifada, revolution – from the river to the sea’ – a genocidal slogan aimed directly at Israeli Jews. Members of one of Concordia’s Jewish clubs even reported that masked pro-Palestinian protesters banged on their walls chanting: ‘All Zionists are racists, all Zionists are terrorists.’

After months of incidents like this, a heavy deployment of police cleared out a pro-Palestine camp at McGill University earlier this month. McGill president Deep Saini described the camp as ‘a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organised largely by individuals who are not part of our university community’.

Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter who exactly is organising these displays of anti-Jewish intimidation. The fact is that Canadian Jews feel increasingly unwelcome in their own country. Dr Gad Saad, professor of marketing at Concordia University, left me with a sobering thought about the future of Canadian Jewry:

‘I left Lebanon in 1975 as it became impossible to be Jewish in my homeland. It is becoming increasingly clear that Montreal is becoming inhospitable to Jews. And as such we might need to find a new home elsewhere.’

The rise of anti-Semitism in Canada is nothing less than shameful.

Hardeep Singh is a writer based in London. Follow him on X: @singhtwo2