Wherever Muslims live in Canada - Jew-hatred is sure to follow...

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Reports of anti-Semitic incidents up dramatically in 2004, says Jewish group


OTTAWA (CP) - A "chilling" new audit by a Jewish group says a record number of anti-Semitic incidents were reported in Canada last year.

B'nai Brith Canada's League for Human Rights released a report Tuesday citing 857 incidents across the country. That's the highest number since the organization began tracking such incidents 22 years ago. And it's up 47 per cent from 2003.


The biggest numbers were in Ontario and Quebec - the most populous provinces - with one incident recorded for the first time in Nunavut.

Especially troubling was a 59 per cent increase in incidents aimed at Jewish homes, said league director Ruth Klein.
"We find this number especially chilling because it implies a measure of premeditation," Klein told an Ottawa news conference.
"People are actually taking the trouble to find out where Jews live, and targeting them in their own homes."

Incidents range from graffiti, to bomb threats and violence.
Among the incidents cited by the league in 2004:

-A Jewish home in Calgary spray-painted with the words Hitler Rules.
-Graffiti on a city street in Cambridge, Ont., proclaiming: Help Save The World. Kill The Jews.
-A website created by a teenager in St. John's, Nfld., filled with anti-Jewish comments.

Almost 45 per cent of the incidents were investigated by police. Of those, 13 resulted in charges, with one leading to a prison sentence. Several cases are still before the courts.
Jewish students were targeted in 47 incidents, often linked to anti-Israel or antiwar events.
Almost one-third of all incidents occurred in March and April, when Israel launched countermeasures against terrorist groups in the Palestinian territory. Klein said that seemed to fall in line with a historical pattern surrounding Israeli military activity.

"We've often found in the past that whenever there's increased tension in the Middle East, Jews in this country are targeted by people who are acting out on their anti-Israel anger," said Klein.
Figures are compiled from incidents reported directly to the league's anti-hate hotline, or its regional offices in Toronto, Halton-Peel in Ontario, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

An RCMP spokesman said he didn't immediately have hate-crimes statistics available.

The league makes a number of recommendations in its report, including having dedicated hate crime units established by all major police forces. The report also calls on Ottawa to amend the Criminal Code to include Holocaust denial as a hate crime.