In a deeply disturbing turn of events, two synagogues and a Jewish center in the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, were defaced with antisemitic graffiti overnight, prompting condemnation from local Jewish leaders, CBC News reported.
The Beth Israel and Shaar Shalom synagogues were targeted, as was a nearby Jewish teachings center, the report said. The graffiti at all three locations included the vile accusation, "Jews did 9/11." A swastika was also discovered at the entrance to the Shaar Shalom synagogue.
Rabbi Yakov Kerzner of Beth Israel synagogue told CBC News the “disturbing” graffiti was discovered on Sunday morning. He expressed particular concern that the vandalism at his synagogue is believed to have taken place while congregants were inside for a Saturday evening service. "It's antisemitism, it's pure anti-Jew hatred," he stated.
Rabbi Gary Karlin of Shaar Shalom said he is "deeply troubled" but not surprised by the attack. "I've seen it … throughout Canada over the last two years.... I don't know where this is going but I'm concerned about it," he said.
Despite the hatred, Rabbi Kerzner stressed the community's resilience. "We are proud to be Jews ... this is not going to stop us.... We're not going to hide."
The incidents have been reported to the Halifax police and their hate crime unit. Cleanup of the buildings is underway, with Shaar Shalom having already removed the graffiti from its exterior sign by Sunday afternoon, according to CBC News.
Yoram Abisror, Executive Director of the Atlantic Jewish Council, and Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, released a joint statement in response to the attacks.
"On the same weekend that extremists silenced fans from cheering on Team Canada, with protestors even publicly displaying the severed head of the Halifax mayor, a Halifax synagogue was defaced with hateful graffiti," the statement read. “Whether intimidating sports fans, threatening elected officials, or targeting people at their places of worship, this is absolutely unacceptable in Canada — an assault on our core Canadian values. And requires an unequivocal and urgent response from police and political leaders."
Canada has seen a sharp rise in incidents of antisemitism since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the war in Gaza which followed.
Data released at the end of July by Statistics Canada reveal that hate crimes targeting Canadian Jews remained alarmingly high in 2024, with 920 police-reported incidents—making Jews the most targeted religious group in the country.
Jews were found to be 25 times more likely to be the victims of a hate crime than other Canadian citizens.
The number of overall antisemitism hate crimes was down slightly from their high in 2023, when they reached 959. However, they remain well above the figures for 2022, when 527 antisemitic hate crimes were reported.