Just twenty-five years after the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrined equality rights in the Constitution and acknowledged Canada's multicultural heritage, a storm is brewing in Canadian society over the "reasonable accommodation" of the needs of minority groups. This has set the stage for ongoing and increasingly open conflict, pitting the dominant culture against both established religious groups and newer immigrant communities. Whatever illusions Canadians may have about the success of the multicultural model, inter-cultural tension is very much alive in this country, mirroring developments across the globe. This struggle is reflected in the wide range of antisemitic incidents reported in this Audit of Antisemitic Incidents for the year 2007.
During 2007, the eye of the reasonable accommodation storm rested primarily over Quebec, where the Bouchard-Taylor Commission provided a lightning rod for public expression of open bigotry and petty grievances against the province's minorities, including the Jewish community. This botched attempt at inclusive public debate was reflected in the sharp increase in the number of antisemitic incidents reported in Quebec, especially when the Commission hearings were at their height, illustrating that latent prejudice will flourish openly when given the opportunity.
However, the reasonable accommodation debate is not just an issue for Quebecers. There has been a surge in immigration across the country in the past twenty-five years, with the most recent numbers released by Statistics Canada indicating that one in five people in Canada is foreign-born. Such findings indicate the likelihood of requests for accommodation of different religious customs and cultural mores coming up increasingly throughout the country – it is how Canadians handle this growing phenomenon that will be the litmus test of the true comfort level of Canadians with the visible 'other'.
The League for Human Rights' Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, now in its 26th year, has traditionally provided not just a snapshot of bigotry and discrimination against the Jewish community, but also a barometer of the level of prejudice in the country against minority groups in general. The context of the reasonable accommodation debate is just one of the backdrops against which antisemitism is considered in this Audit. As antisemitism continues to express itself in new guises and emerge in new venues, it is necessary to examine each of its different deviations in order to follow new trends and evolving patterns.
At a time when there is a growing public acceptance of a certain level of hate activity as 'tolerable' to society, the Audit reminds us of the ugly face of racism and highlights its disturbing impact on ordinary people of all ages and backgrounds, in a range of private and public settings, borrowing from hatreds both ancient and modern-day. It reminds us as well of the need to be vigilant in identifying and countering its spread.
Preparation of the annual Audit is just one expression of the League's assistance to victims of antisemitism. The incidents documented in the Audit are reported to B'nai Brith's League for Human Rights in a variety of ways: via its 24/7 Anti-Hate Hotline [1-800 892 BNAI [2624]; through its website reporting service (www.bnaibrith.ca); to B'nai Brith's national headquarters in Toronto; or to its regional offices and network of local volunteers across the country. Working closely with police forces and Jewish community institutions, these incidents are corroborated, documented and analyzed. The victims themselves receive culturally-sensitive assistance and, if necessary, referral to police, legal services or human rights fora. Through such frontline initiatives, supported by anti-racism education, human rights campaigns and legal/legislative interventions, the League is able to provide a valuable service not just to the Jewish community, but to all Canadians.
In 2007, 1,042 incidents were reported to the League for Human Rights, constituting an overall increase of 11.4% from the previous year. This figure breaks through a ceiling of 1,000 that would have seemed unthinkable just a few short years ago. A five-year view shows that the number of incidents has almost doubled since the 584 incidents reported in the 2003 Audit. A 10-year view shows an upward trend with the exception of a small hiatus in 2005, with incidents jumping more than four-fold since 1998 when there were 240 cases. Twenty-six years ago, when the League released its first Audit, the number of reported incidents was just 63.
These figures appear at odds with reports from some other major Jewish communities in the world, which are often cited for comparison purposes. The United Kingdom saw a decrease of 8% from 594 incidents in 2006 to 547 in 2007; France experienced a decline of 31%, from 371 incidents in 2006 to 256 in 2007. South of the border the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reports an overall decrease of 13% in the United States, from 1,554 incidents in 2006 down to 1,357 in 2007. However, there was a striking increase in New York City, where the majority of American Jews reside and the ultra-Orthodox contingent is highly visible; incidents there increased by 23.5%, or by almost a quarter, from 284 in 2006 to 351 in 2007.
One would have expected the findings of Canada to reflect a similar downward trend given the absence of the usual trigger points that accompany clashes in the Middle East. The possible reasons for this anomaly will be discussed further [see section on Patterns of Occurrence]. The figures from Australia, where the reporting year ended in September 2007, indicate a picture that is closer to the Canadian profile. An increase of 8% was reported over the previous 12-month reporting period, to a total of 638 incidents.
The Jewish community makes up barely 1% of the total Canadian population, according to the 2006 Census released by Statistics Canada. Despite such a small demographic profile, the Audit findings once again mirror those of police reports, illustrating a disproportionate targeting of the Jewish community compared to other ethnic and religious groups, a trend that has been steadily intensifying in the past ten years.
Interestingly, the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics Report for 2006 released last year indicates that of the 1,462 anti-religion hate crimes reported in the US, 967 cases (65.4%) were caused by the offender’s anti- Jewish bias. The next closest group was the Muslim community: 156 cases (11.9%) involved an anti- Islamic bias. This mirrors police findings in Canada as well, where police hate crimes reports continue to show that Jews are amongst the most targeted groups in Canada and, at times, the most targeted group. This was the case for Toronto and York Region in 2007, for example.
As in previous years, incidents took place across the country, in both rural and urban areas. One would have expected the urban areas, where the majority of the Jewish community resides, to experience the most marked increase in antisemitic activity, as reported in previous Audits. However, in 2007 it was the smaller centres of Jewish presence that saw the most significant patterns of escalation, including Regional Quebec and Regional Ontario, another anomaly identified in this year’s Audit.
In Regional Quebec, outside Montreal, incidents rose almost four-fold from 11 in 2006 to 42 in 2007. In Regional Ontario - outside the urban centres of Toronto and Ottawa where the number of reports declined - incidents almost doubled from 52 in 2006 to 95 in 2007. In the western regions, there was a significant increase in incidents in British Columbia (41.9%), Saskatchewan (128.6%) and Manitoba (64%), with only Alberta seeing a substantial decline in 2007 of 37.8%.
Bearing in mind the many emerging variants of antisemitism, we note that this phenomenon continued to expand in a variety of venues, including union settings, medical facilities, retail outlets and other usually benign places where one would not normally expect antisemitism to manifest.
The 1,042 incidents reported across Canada are classified as follows: 699 cases of harassment were recorded, compared to 588 in 2006. This category represents 67.1% of the total number of incidents for 2007. There were 315 cases of vandalism, 30.2% of the total, down marginally from the 317 cases in 2006. In addition, 28 cases (2.7% of the total) involved violence, compared to 30 cases in 2006.
Analysis of shifts in the pattern of violence is necessary beyond looking at the overall decline. While cases of violence dropped by 6.7% over the 2006 figure, Toronto (GTA) showed a jump from 16 to 20 cases, a 25% increase, in line with an apparent trend towards increasing violence in Toronto’s inner city in recent years.
The Audit data suggest that harassment was the method of choice once again in 2007, representing the largest number (67.1%) of incidents reported across Canada. Harassment cases increased by 18.9% over 2006, when there were 588 cases. In fact, the proportion of incidents in the category of harassment as compared to the total number of cases increased by 4.2% over the 2006 figures. The language used continues to be graphic, ugly and disturbing. Within this category, the number of outright threats of violence, such as death threats, bomb threats and threats of physical assault increased from 82 cases in 2006 to 95 cases in 2007, an increase of 15.9%.
In 2007, cases of vandalism across the country dropped only marginally when compared with the previous year. However, in Regional Quebec (excluding Montreal) and Regional Ontario (excluding Ottawa and Toronto) significant increases were recorded. Manitoba also saw an increase in vandalism of 33.3% from 12 incidents in 2006 to 16 in 2007. Despite the decrease of 5.4% in this category in Toronto, Ontario had the most incidents involving synagogues (seven out of 22 incidents). In British Columbia, the number of incidents of vandalism, which had doubled from nine in 2005 to 18 in 2006, rose again to 20 cases in 2007, an increase of 11.1%, including the deliberate targeting of two synagogues.
There were 22 reported incidents involving synagogues in 2007, compared to 42 in 2006 and 35 in 2005. Targeted houses of worship included synagogues in Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Richmond (BC), Hamilton, Barrie (ON) and Toronto. Ugly graffiti defaced an Edmonton synagogue just as it was celebrating its 100th anniversary early in 2007. This same synagogue was previously firebombed in 2000. In Richmond, a synagogue was vandalized during Holocaust Memorial Day with graffiti which included swastikas and a man being hanged, identified by the word “Jew”. As well, there were six incidents targeting Jewish community centres, including the firebombing of a Montreal Jewish community centre during the Passover holiday.
Better security at these institutions – for which the Jewish community bears the financial burden – has no doubt contributed to the decrease in incidents targeting synagogues, but there is no room here for complacency. With this knowledge in mind, the Federal Government has launched a program to provide partial security grants to communities at risk, the first monies being released in 2008.
The need for ongoing vigilance is highlighted by the nine cases involving a cemetery desecration in 2007, a significant number considering that there was only one case in 2006 and just two in 2005. This figure is similar to the findings in the year 2004, when ten cases were recorded. During 2007, an Ottawa Jewish cemetery was vandalized three times over a three-month period, involving a total of more than 66 tombstones.
In 2007, the number of private homes targeted by vandalism increased to 132 in 2007 from 118 in 2006. This represents a steady climb from the 95 cases recorded in 2003, a 38.9% increase over a five-year span. Victim impact statements make it clear that the targeting of Jews in their homes in increasing numbers has intensified the community's sense of vulnerability.
There were 31 cases directly related to the victim's workplace, a decrease from the 49 cases noted in 2006. On-the-job harassment by fellow employees and supervisors continued, and refusals to accommodate requests for religious days were often followed by harassment. Seven incidents took place in government settings; in one case, a government employee received ongoing threats as part of an overall campaign of harassment.
There were 82 incidents in school settings, an increase of 51.9% over the 54 recorded in the previous year. Seventeen involved private Jewish day schools, notably assaults against Jewish students in Toronto, but the vast majority of these school-based incidents occurred in the public system. With concerted efforts underway to import anti-Israel propaganda into the high school classroom, such an increase cannot be entirely unexpected, since antisemitism is often a by-product of virulent anti- Israel activity.
There was a dramatic increase in the number of incidents on university campuses – more than doubling from 36 cases in 2006 to 78 in 2007. On campus we continue to hear from Jewish students that their experiences with prejudice and discrimination are being marginalized, and their religious practices denigrated. Anti-Israel activity, which spread across the major Canadian campuses, was directly tied to acts of antisemitism, including threats of violence against Jewish students. Many students reported feeling intimidated as a result of the poisoned environment created by the annual “Israel Apartheid Week” hate fest. The deteriorating situation led, for example, to 125 professors at the University of Toronto coming together for the first time in a full-page ad in the National Post in March 2008, protesting the university’s actions in hosting this event each year.
The League's Anti-Hate Hotline received 310 reports of web-based hate activity with a Canadian connection in terms of content, perpetrators and/or victims. This is an increase of 22 % over the 254 cases reported in 2006. It represents an almost two-fold increase in two years compared to the 164 cases recorded in 2005, and an almost ten-fold increase when compared to the 32 cases on record in 2003. The 2007 figure still represents just the tip of the iceberg in terms of assessing the full dimensions of web-based hate.
Out of these cases, nearly one-third involved threatening or harassing communications. As noted in the 2006 Audit, there is a growing trend towards the use of blogs and social networking communities to disseminate hate material, with a greater reach than the traditional means of communication used in the past to convey intolerant or racist views. Internet sites containing hate-filled material included Canadian-based neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. These sites were used to publicize hate rock festivals and hate group meetings. When a band’s concert venue was cancelled in Toronto, for example, due to concerns about hate content, an alternative site was located and supporters informed via Internet social networking groups. Given that Canadians, youth in particular, are among the most wired in the world, this growing trend is a cause for concern that merits ongoing attention.
There were 55 cases of Holocaust denial, down from the 61 reported incidents in 2006, but a significant increase from the 17 cases in 2003. The 2007 data indicates a continued presence of this type of pernicious propaganda in Canada, notwithstanding strong official condemnation. However, the vocal condemnation of the Canadian professor who attended the 2006 Iranian Holocaust denial conference, by his university as well as by public figures, illustrated a widespread societal repugnance towards this form of antisemitism.
The majority of cases of Holocaust denial involved web-based communications, but also included events such as the hosting of a Holocaust denier at an Arab student event at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
The persistence of Holocaust denial in Canada is clearly fuelled by ongoing neo-Nazi and white supremacist activities in Canada and abroad. The high profile cases before the criminal courts and human rights tribunals no doubt fuelled some of the Holocaust denial incidents. These took place following the criminal cases against Jean Sébastien Pressault in Montreal and Bill Noble in British Columbia relating to antisemitic and racist postings on websites under their control. In one of a number of notable human rights cases, Saskatchewan-based Terry Tremaine was fined in connection with antisemitic material relating to his website.
Swastikas and Nazi-related symbols featured prominently in 151 of the vandalism incidents reported in 2007, a drop of 20% from the 188 cases in 2006. However, police reports indicate that the use of the swastika continues to be a primary feature of gang-like taggings across the country, illustrating that use of this symbol as a means of intimidation to promote an agenda of hate is far from over.
One reason for the apparent decline in this form of vandalism could be that a number of police forces indicate that they are not classifying the swastika as an antisemitic incident without further proof of motivation, something that they are unlikely to uncover given the anonymity of the perpetrator.
The language which appeared in the cases of vandalism continued to be ugly and often included death threats. There were a number of cases of vandals attacking multiple sites in otherwise quiet residential neighbourhoods, for example, in smaller urban centres in Ontario such as Welland, Kingston, Georgina and Niagara Falls. White supremacist groups also took to the streets in Montreal, London and Calgary.
The ethnic origin of the perpetrators of reported incidents was analyzed where relevant information was available. This was the case in face-to-face encounters where there was self-identification by the perpetrator. Given the anonymity sought by those carrying out hate-motivated activities, identifying the perpetrator can only be attempted where the facts are clear-cut. In 2007 there were 24 cases where the perpetrator self-identified as of Arab origin, a decrease from the 68 cases in 2006. These incidents included the firebombing of a Jewish community centre in Montreal, assaults against visibly Jewish teenagers, and an Arab doctor telling his Jewish patient that “Jews start all wars”.
Other ethnic groups that self-identified in the year's total incidents were: Chinese (2), Polish (4), German (4), Aboriginal (2), Hungarian (4), and Romanian (1). These included incidents of harassment, including two cases of antisemitic material in ethnic media (Chinese and Hungarian).
Meanwhile, neo- Nazi sympathizers and far-left-wing extremists have found some common ground in recent years, with far-left-wing factions borrowing from Holocaust imagery to make their attacks on Israel, and far-right-wing groups using anti-Israel rhetoric to mask their anti-Jewish animosity. This alliance was evident in a number of the incidents occurring in 2007.
Whistler, BC – A restaurant owner makes antisemitic remarks to a staff member as part of a racist rant.
Winnipeg, MB – A building is vandalized with swastikas and graffiti, including the phrase “F*** you Jews”.
Montreal, QC – A synagogue is vandalized with graffiti under the signature of “Snowdon Al Axsa” [sic], a reference to the terrorist group al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Toronto, ON – The words “Kill Jews” are scrawled on the walls of a public school.
Saint John, NB – Harassing phone calls are made to a prominent member of the Jewish community.
Edmonton, AB – Edmonton’s oldest synagogue, Beth Israel, is defaced with swastikas and antisemitic epitaphs shortly before its 100th anniversary celebration.
Ottawa, ON – Flyers promoting a Holocaust denial website are distributed throughout the downtown core.
Fredericton, NB – A high school student performs the Nazi salute in class, mocking the visibly religious female teacher.
Ottawa, ON – A student election poster of a Jewish candidate posted on a university campus is defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
Hamilton, ON – A Holocaust denial movie is shown on campus by an Arab student group.
Windsor, ON – A DVD is left behind in a doctor’s office by a patient; it calls for a mass killing of Jews.
Toronto, ON – A bomb threat is made to an individual at his home.
Montreal, QC – A Jewish patron at a gas station is spat upon by a fellow customer after being identified as a Jew.
Toronto, ON – A clerk refuses to serve a Jewish customer at a retail food store.
Winnipeg, MB – A Jewish teacher in the public school system receives a letter with antisemitic content, claiming that Jews are pigs, Hitler knew what he was doing, and that Jews will die.
Toronto, ON – An individual receives an anonymous call on his cell phone stating: “If you’re Jewish, you belong in the oven.”
Montreal, QC – A political candidate repeats antisemitic canards about Jewish power and greed, accusing Jewish people of “starting wars to get rich”.
Toronto, ON – A young religious student is assaulted as he leaves his Jewish day school at the end of the day.
Montreal, QC – A Jewish Community Centre is firebombed on the second night of Passover.
Richmond, BC – A synagogue is defaced with antisemitic graffiti on Holocaust Memorial Day, including a picture of a man being hanged, identified by the word “Jew”.
Winnipeg, MB – A fireman is subjected to ongoing antisemitic comments at work, including references to the ovens at Auschwitz.
Montreal, QC – A Chasidic boy is beaten by an assailant outside the Skver Toldos Jewish School, the same venue that was firebombed in 2006.
Kingston, ON – There is a vandalism spree in a quiet residential neighbourhood, involving multiple incidents of swastikas and other racist graffiti.
Toronto, ON – A campus student group invites an American speaker known for his antisemitic, pro-violence views.
Toronto, ON – A Rabbi is assaulted on a public street in broad daylight.
Val-David, QC – A summer home belonging to a member of Montreal's Chasidic Jewish community is torched by unknown culprits.
Ottawa, ON – For the third time in three months a Jewish cemetery in Ottawa is desecrated. Over twenty tombstones are overturned and damaged in this incident alone.
Mississauga, ON – Antisemitic graffiti defaces many private properties as part of an overnight crime spree.
Owen Sound, ON – A conservation area is littered with antisemitic graffiti.
Toronto, ON – A visibly religious student is swarmed and attacked by a gang on the way home from school.
Welland, ON – Cars are defaced with swastikas in a quiet residential area.
Barrie, ON – A local synagogue is vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.
Edmonton, AB – A Jewish day school is vandalized; among the damage is a five-foot-high structure at the front of the facility depicting the Star of David.
Calgary, AB – Swastikas are on prominent display at a white supremacist rally.
Toronto, ON – Visibly Jewish students are assaulted on the way home from school.
Winnipeg, MB – A man finds his car damaged, with the words “F*** Jew ” [sic] written on it.
Bowmanville, ON – A Jewish family finds the front door of its rental property smashed, with swastikas, anti-Jewish and neo-Nazi graffiti painted on the walls.
Georgina, ON - Unknown individuals deface nine vehicles with swastikas, and antisemitic and homophobic slurs. Several nearby homes are spray-painted with racist graffiti.
Winnipeg, MB – A synagogue is vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.
Saguenay, QC – A speaker at the Bouchard-Taylor Commission repeats the old canard that 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”.
Saint Jerome, QC – A speaker at the Bouchard-Taylor Commission 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”.
Toronto, ON – Private homes, including the home of Holocaust survivors, are defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
Ottawa, ON – A Rabbi’s home is targeted with a swastika.
Victoria, BC – Residents wake up to the message “Jews suck” etched into the window of their building.
Montreal, QC – An identifiably Jewish couple is swarmed and assaulted by eight individuals who yell “Jew, Jew”.
Montreal, QC – During the Bouchard-Taylor Commission hearings, a man claims that the accommodation controversy in Quebec “is the fault of the Jews”, alleging they control the justice system.
Winnipeg, MB – A daycare and community centre are defaced with swastikas and KKK symbols.
Montreal, QC – A blogger claims that the 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”.
Windsor, ON - A Jewish faculty member at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education is targeted with threatening antisemitic messages.
Montreal, QC - An anonymous caller to B’nai Brith’s Quebec office blames the Jews for turning Canada into a “multicultural sewer”.
Halifax, NS – An Internet chat group contains images of nooses, suggesting that Jews and other minorities should be killed.
Vancouver Island, BC – A Jewish family is subjected to antisemitic remarks in apparent retaliation for complaining about the failure of their son’s school to accommodate his religious practices.
Saskatoon, SK – Antisemitic canards are posted on an Internet site, claiming that Jews have been a threat to jobs and businesses due to “massive immigration” into the province.
Toronto, ON – Mezuzahs placed on residents’ doors in a large apartment complex are defaced and torn off the doorposts.
Thornhill, ON – A Rabbi receives an email containing ugly anti-Jewish epitaphs that repeat material from a white supremacist website.
Incidents were reported once again across the country. As in previous years, the most significant statistics were collected in Quebec and Ontario, where the vast majority of Canadian Jews reside.
The majority of reported incidents of antisemitism in Canada occurred in Ontario: 582 incidents or 55.9% of the year's total for all of the country. This is an increase of 2.3% from 2006, when there were 569 incidents in the province overall.
The number of cases of harassment dropped by 3.7% to 342, down from 355 in 2006. However, vandalism increased by 12.8% to 220 cases, up from 195 in 2006, and incidents of violence went up by 5.3% to 20 cases, compared to the 19 reported in 2006.
The incidents in Ontario are broken down further into Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ottawa, and Regional Ontario (areas outside the GTA and Ottawa).
The GTA area has consistently proven to be the highest reporting area in previous Audits. This region represents 41% of the incidents reported for Canada.
The 427 incidents recorded in the GTA represent a small drop of 4% over the 445 cases the year before. However, a five-year view shows a 35.6% increase from the 315 cases in 2003. The incidents are classified as follows: 284 cases of harassment, 123 cases of vandalism and 20 cases of violence. The incidents included physical assaults and desecration of homes, synagogues and cemeteries.
The majority of the GTA cases took place in the City of Toronto where there were 359 cases, up from the 344 incidents in 2006. This figure includes 38 cases in York Region, a drop from 51 cases reported in 2006. Of the York Region cases in 2007, 25 took place in Thornhill, four in Richmond Hill, four in Markham and five in Newmarket. This compares with a breakdown in 2006 of 35 in Thornhill, eight in Richmond Hill, three in Markham and seven in Newmarket. There were also 30 cases in Peel Region: 29 in Mississauga and one in Brampton, a drop from the 48 cases in 2006, of which 17 took place in Brampton and 31 in Mississauga.
Cases of harassment and vandalism were each down by 5% over the previous year’s figures. However, while the number of cases of violence decreased by 6.7% in Canada overall, such incidents increased by 5.3% in Ontario and by 25% in the GTA.
There were 60 cases of antisemitism reported in Ottawa, down by 16.7% from the 72 cases in 2006. The 60 incidents included 31 cases of harassment and 29 of vandalism. There were no cases of violence, whereas two cases were recorded in 2006. Incidents included antisemitic graffiti on private homes as well as public buildings, harassment in government workplaces and on campus, and cemetery desecrations.
In Regional Ontario (excluding the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa), 95 cases were reported in 2007, representing an increase of 82.7% over the 52 cases in 2006. Most of the cases occurred in urban areas of the region, including London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Owen Sound, Barrie, Georgina, Windsor, Hamilton, Peterborough and Kingston.
The 2007 total was made up of 27 acts of harassment, up from 23 in 2006, and 68 cases of vandalism, up from 28 (a 142.9% increase). There were no cases of violence reported in 2007, whereas there was one such case in 2006. Incidents included vandalism against synagogues, graffiti sprees on public sites and private homes, and hate propaganda on campus.
The 291 incidents reported represented 27.9% of the total incidents recorded across Canada. Quebec incidents increased by 28.8% from the 226 cases reported in 2006. There were 240 cases of harassment, 44 cases of vandalism and seven incidents of violence. While the number of incidents in the categories of vandalism and violence dropped in the province as a whole by 36.2% and 30% respectively compared to 2006, harassment rose by 63.3% (240 cases in 2007, up from 147 in 2006).
Quebec figures are further broken down into Montreal and Regional Quebec, the latter encompassing the areas outside Montreal and its immediate environs.
In 2007, 249 incidents were reported to the League, compared to 215 incidents in 2006. This represents an overall increase of 15.8%. There were 214 cases of harassment, up by 50.7% from the 142 cases in 2006. Cases of vandalism dropped from 63 in 2006 to 28 in 2007 (a 55.6% decrease), while cases of violence dropped from 10 cases in 2006 to seven in 2007 (a 30% decrease). Incidents included the firebombing of a Jewish community centre, physical assaults carried out against members of the Jewish community, desecration of synagogues and Jewish community property, a cemetery desecration and overt antisemitic statements. In five years, the number of incidents in Montreal has jumped from 102 cases in 2003 to the 249 incidents in 2007.
There were 42 incidents in Regional Quebec in 2007. There were 26 cases of harassment, 16 cases of vandalism, and again this year no cases in the category of violence. These figures represent a dramatic increase from the five cases of harassment and six cases of vandalism reported just a year earlier. Taking a five-year view, incidents in this area have increased seven-fold from the six cases in 2003. They included the arson of summer homes owned by ultra- Orthodox Jews, and virulently anti-Jewish statements publicly expressed during the Bouchard- Taylor Commission hearings, including the re-emergence of the “Kosher Food Tax” canard.
There were 41 cases in 2007, compared to 25 in 2006, an overall increase of 64%. All categories showed an increase. Incidents of harassment rose by 84.6%, from 13 in 2006 to 24 in 2007. Vandalism jumped by a third from 12 cases in 2006 to 16 in 2007. There was one case of violence recorded, whereas there were no cases the previous year. Incidents included hate-filled graffiti on synagogues and a daycare, a personal attack on a Jewish teacher respected for his human rights work, harassment of a fireman at work, and racist slurs and threats against Jewish high school students visiting a public school setting. All reported incidents took place in the province’s capital, Winnipeg.
There were 16 cases reported this year, all of which were classified as harassment. This represents an increase of more than double over the seven cases recorded in 2006. The incidents were fuelled by reaction to the ongoing criminal case of disgraced Aboriginal leader David Ahenakew, as well as human rights actions brought against Saskatchewan resident Terry Tremaine. Of these 16 incidents, eight took place in Regina and eight in Saskatoon, the two major cities in the province.
There were 28 incidents in 2007, which represents a 37.8% decrease when compared to the 45 cases in 2006. Of these, eight took place in Edmonton, 19 in Calgary, and one in Lethbridge. The incidents include 18 cases of harassment (down from 24 cases in 2006) and 10 cases of vandalism (down from 21 in 2006). There were no cases in 2007 involving violence, as was the case the year before.
The incidents of vandalism included attacks on a synagogue and private homes. Harassment cases included white supremacist activity, for example a rally by the Aryan Guard on the streets of Calgary. The public prosecution of a part-time resident in the province, Bill Noble, took place in 2007, apparently annoying his supporters as illustrated in some of the harassment cases. Swastikas and neo-Nazi symbols were common in the graffiti identified during the year. In spite of the welcome decrease in the region, hate-related activity continues to be an issue of concern, as can be seen in the increase from the 16 incidents reported five years earlier in 2003.
The 61 cases reported in 2007 represent a 41.9% increase from the 43 cases reported in 2006. A five year view reveals a steep upward trend given that only 23 incidents were reported for the province in 2003. The 2007 figures also constitute a twelve-fold increase from the five cases recorded in 2002.
Incidents took place in the cities of Vancouver (36) and Victoria (18), with the remaining seven taking place elsewhere in the province. There were 41 incidents of harassment, a 70.8% increase from the 24 cases in 2006. There were also 20 incidents of vandalism, up 11.1% from the 18 cases in 2006. There were no cases of violence in 2007, whereas there was one in 2006. The reports included incidents on campus, antisemitic graffiti on businesses and private homes, harassment of students at school, and vandalism of a synagogue.
The number of reported incidents in this region rose by 15% from 20 cases in 2006 to 23 in 2007. The number of cases of harassment (18) showed no change from the levels of 2006, while cases of vandalism more than doubled, going from two in 2006 to five in 2007.
The provincial breakdown of incidents was as follows: Nova Scotia (15), New Brunswick (6), and Prince Edward Island (2). There were no incidents reported in Newfoundland.
The upward trend continued in this region – almost doubling since the 12 cases recorded in 2003. Incidents included white supremacist activities on campus, harassment of a Jewish teacher and a well-known local lawyer, and hate postings on the Internet.
This region is made up of the vast areas of Northern Canada: the Northwest Territories, Yukon Territories, and Nunavut. There were no cases in this region for 2007, as was the case in 2006, whereas one incident was recorded in 2005 and one in 2004.
However, inquiries about hate-based activities on the Internet and concerns about reaching work-place accommodations indicate that the area is not insulated from issues troubling the rest of Canada.
In previous years, spikes in antisemitic incidents in particular months have often been attributed to international crises, especially in the Middle East. That was certainly the case in 2006; during that year there was a dramatic jump in incidents during the summer months, when Hezbollah’s war against Israel took place. Jewish communities around the world reported similar findings.
However, there were no obvious Middle East triggers in 2007 to link to incidents at home here in Canada, apart from the usual ongoing animosity towards the Jewish community engendered by anti-Israel campaigns on campus and, increasingly, in high schools.
Incidents in 2007 spiked in January with 121 incidents (11.6% of the total), and 143 in November (13.7% of the total). It is suggested that these concentrations of incidents can indeed be attributed to international and domestic events, given that Canadians are not immune to developments in other provinces and other countries.
At the end of 2006, the genocidal statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against the Jewish People gave comfort to Jew-haters everywhere, while the controversy over the Canadian professor who attended Iran’s Holocaust Denial Conference ensured that the issue remained in the public eye well into 2007. While condemnation of Professor Shiraz Dossa’s participation was widespread, it has been noted that any time Israel or Jewish-related issues are prominent in the news of the day, whether with negative or positive connotations, undercover antisemites tend to come out of the woodwork in increasing numbers.
The marked increase in reported incidents during November – the highest number in the entire year – can be attributed to quite a different event. The preponderance of these incidents in the Province of Quebec (99 out of the total of 143 for the whole of Canada, more than two thirds of the total incidents for that month), suggest an obvious link to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission hearings, which took place across the province from October- December 2007. The public format of the Commission and the laissez faire attitude of the Commissioners until relatively late in the proceedings, meant that bigots were given a virtually unrestricted public platform and unlimited free publicity to disseminate their prejudices and petty grievance against many different minorities, including Jews.
It can be no coincidence that in Regional Quebec, outside the metropolis of Montreal where most of the province’s incidents have taken place in past years, there was an almost four-fold increase from 11 cases in 2006 to 42 in 2007. This would seem to indicate a ground spring of latent ill-feeling towards Jews that only needs an opportunity like the Commission to crystallize and erupt.
The partnership of trained hate crime officers, working in tandem with community-based organizations representing the victims, continues to be a vital element in the fight against hate-related activity in Canada. As in 2006, just over one-third of the cases reported to the League were also reported to police by the victims: only 372 out of the total 1,042 incidents in 2007 (35.7%). Eighteen charges were laid in connection to incidents reported to police. This is up slightly from the 15 charges in 2006. Police units across Canada continue to grapple with limited budgets as they reach out to the various community groups in their jurisdiction, while at the same time having to meet the reporting requirements of both their division and Statistic Canada’s Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
Attacks on Montreal communal sites resulted in the League issuing yet another call for dedicated hate crime units to be put in place in that city. There remains a need for vigilance at a time of heightened security concerns due to tensions in the Middle East that impact on the Jewish community here in Canada. As the rabbinical leader of a Montreal synagogue vandalized in 2007 remarked, the fact that police investigating the incident did not understand the anti-Jewish significance of the graffiti used in this incident added to the distress of the community.
Similar concerns were raised in Bowmanville, Ontario, where a family’s rental property was largely destroyed by wanton vandalism, including hate-filled antisemitic graffiti. Police indicated that despite the obvious anti-Jewish nature of the graffiti, the matter would not proceed as a hate crime due to the lack of definitive evidence as to motivation. The family’s frustration only increased when charges against a suspect were dropped.
A number of criminal proceedings in 2007 will hopefully serve as some deterrent. Jean Sébastien Pressault, a Quebec resident who pled guilty in 2006 to hate crime charges relating to antisemitic and racist content on his website, was sentenced to six months imprisonment in a decision handed down early in 2007. The League subsequently discovered that a link to his website had resurfaced, and alerted the authorities, illustrating once again the difficulty of stemming hate, which is continuously emerging and re-emerging on the Internet.
In the fall of 2007, the trial concluded in Prince George, British Columbia, of white supremacist Keith Francis William (Bill) Noble on charges that he did "willfully promote hatred against identifiable groups” . These charges were in connection to the posting of hate material targeting Jews, Blacks and others on the Internet. A conviction was handed down in February of 2008, when he was sentenced to four months imprisonment. This marked only the second time that such a crime has been successfully prosecuted in the province. Commenting on the case, the BC hate crime team noted “that the content of the website and the content of what he posted were offensive enough to meet [the] high standard [of the Criminal Code]."
Concerns about the standards needed to meet the Criminal Code test will be the focus of the retrial of David Ahenakew, the Aboriginal leader who made antisemitic comments to a reporter at a conference in December, 2002. The Crown has opted, however, not to appeal the decision of the Saskatchewan courts to set aside an earlier conviction, but instead to retry the matter. The League has raised concerns that statements at the Court of Appeal level have introduced added requirements not set out in the Code as to what the Crown would have to prove in order to get a conviction.
A number of cases relating to incidents reported in 2007 will make their way through the courts in 2008, including vandalism cases in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, where suspects in attacks against synagogues were identified. There are also charges against individuals involved in assaults against school boys in Toronto and Montreal that will proceed in 2008.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has also reached decisions under the governing Canadian Human Rights Act in a number of Internet-related complaints in 2007 relating to white supremacist material. In February of 2007, former Saskatchewan lecturer Terry Tremaine was ordered to pay a fine of $4,000 for his hate-filled postings against Jews and other groups. He is now facing charges of promoting hate contrary to the Criminal Code. A similar fine was imposed by the Tribunal against the respondent in Warman v. Wilkinson over calls for violent acts against Jews and other groups.
In October of 2007, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal reached a decision in the case of Warman v. Beaumont, fining the respondent $1,500 for racist Internet postings. Jessica Beaumont was also ordered not to post on the Internet.
A number of other Internet-related cases will continue into 2008, including complaints against Melissa Guille (Heritage Alliance) and Marc Lemire (Freedomsite), where hearings have yet to be completed. The League is an intervenor in the Lemire case. The League has also filed complaints in British Columbia, alleging that two separate websites contain virulent antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionist rhetoric.
With the ever-growing use of the Internet, and the newer phenomenon of online social networks being used to spread racism and recruit youngsters to ideologies of hate, the need for the human rights system to intensify its work in these areas will increase. The challenges of this endeavour are enormous. For example, when hatemongers are ordered not to post, others with a similar mindset are prepared to use their names to post the offending material. Furthermore, white supremacists combine Internet activity with gatherings in public fora, as witnessed in a public street rally in Calgary in 2007, and attempts by two Atlantic universities - Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s University - to bring in Jared Taylor, a US-based darling of the white supremacist movement, for a debate on race-related issues.
VICTIM'S BILL OF RIGHTSFor those who have suffered antisemitism and other hate activity | |
When one person is singled out for hate, the entire community this person represents is also targeted. For every one of the 1,042 antisemitic incidents documented this year in Canada, a mother, father, child, grandparent, sister, brother, spouse, friend, neighbour, or colleague was impacted as well. Victims of hate-motivated acts are entitled to be treated with compassion and dignity so that their suffering will not be compounded when they speak out. They are entitled to the following protections in their pursuit for justice: |
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The findings of this year’s Audit, indicating an increase in 2007 of 11.4% to a new record of 1,042 incidents, support the conclusion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that antisemitism “appears in a variety of forms and is becoming relatively commonplace.” i This statement holds true across the globe, as illustrated by several annual reports that monitor the phenomenon of antisemitism on a national and international basis.ii In Canada, however, the notion has been proposed that antisemitism, and indeed racism in general, are marginal and insignificant activities that are best ignored, rather than acknowledged and countered.
Marginalizing racism in this way betrays a cavalier complacency toward hate-related activity that is severely at odds with the gravity of the Canadian findings discussed in this Audit. Proponents of this position negate a fact long recognized in the international arena: forms of racism such as antisemitism – often termed the world’s ‘oldest hatred’ - have considerable “power and reach”.iii Furthermore, to dismiss antisemitism as a danger long past betrays a lack of recognition that “antisemitism is a form of both racism and religious intolerance. Antisemitic acts are correspondingly serious violations of international human rights.” iv Using the paradigms of Matthew Lauder, a Canadian human rights activist with experience fighting extremism of the far right, this appears to reflect a need in certain sectors of society to engage in the exercise of “dismissing acts of racism as the actions of a few individuals existing on the margins of society…[thus] relieving the status quo of the responsibility for the continued existence of racism.” v
This issue of society’s responsibility to take action is key to this discussion. Entities and individuals who may lead the charge to minimize the findings of this Audit will be marginalizing the traumatic experiences of the victims whose stories are told within these pages. They will be ignoring an increase in antisemitic incidents in schools, on campus, and against Canadian Jews in their own homes, as well as the intrusion of an escalating level of antisemitism into Canada’s rural areas.
One area where this type of obtuseness has been particularly glaring is on campus, where a ritualized campaign of anti-Israel hate fests has been given a home year after year by university authorities. This is in spite of the creation of a ‘poisoned atmosphere’ that has led to incident after incident against Jewish students by persons apparently invigorated by hate propaganda disseminated throughout the year against the Jewish State. In the name of “free speech”, hate speech has been allowed to take root in contravention of clear findings by international human rights experts that the “‘new anti-Semitism’ commonly manifests itself in the guise of opposition to Zionism and the existence and/or policies of the state of Israel”. vi
This ‘cloaking’ of antisemitism has long been seen in the tactics used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, who borrow from anti-Israel rhetoric as a way of expressing their hatred of Jews, even though they have no interest in the Middle East conflict per se. This approach was evident in many of the incidents reported to the League in 2007. One has only to look at the tactics used in recent years by far-right-wing extremists to understand that it is the same method currently in use on campus by anti-Israel coalitions. Reproduced here in the original, spelling mistakes and all, is the advice Stormfront gives to its supporters: “Remember to say “Zionists”… or “Israel Firsters” instead of “Jews” when making public speeches or writing arcticles … It is entirely possible to stay within the bounds of the law and still promote our cause.” vii
Groups such as Stormfront have learned well the lesson that denigrating Jews by attacking Israel is a method generally deemed acceptable in Canada today. Countering this mindset faces the following challenge: “Today there is still denial about the universal ideology of the new anti-Semitism… it enters into the soft underbelly of the Western mind-set that does not like Jews or what Israel does to defend its right to exist.” viii
This “soft underbelly of the Western mind-set” is perhaps the greatest barrier to a rigorous campaign to counter antisemitism. When society’s indifference to the victims of antisemitism is coupled with an innate reluctance on the part of victims themselves to report their experiences, a perpetuation of the problem is set in motion. As noted recently by Brantford, Ontario, Police Chief Derek V. McElvany: “…too many citizens are afraid to report hate crimes”. ix This observation supports earlier findings by police and sociologists that only about 10% of victims of all types of abuse ever report their victimization.x
Under-reporting can only be exacerbated by a new phenomenon identified in this year’s Audit: victims of antisemitism - as well as victims of other types of racism - have often been targeted in retaliation for their efforts to speak out on human right issues that affect themselves, their families or their communities. The concern is that this type of retaliatory tactic will have a chilling effect on efforts to ascertain the true dimensions of antisemitic activity in Canada, leading to an under-estimation of the extent of the problem, and inadequate government and community planning for services to at-risk communities.
That is why current government initiatives are so welcome, such as the Government of Ontario’s recent provision of funding to bolster services to victims of hate crimes, an initiative that should be duplicated across the country. The League has received a grant under this program to hold a forum in September 2008 on enhancing support to victims of hate crimes. Similarly, the Federal Government’s grants to vulnerable community institutions at risk of racist vandalism or terrorism-related attacks mark an important first step in government taking responsibility for the safety and security of all its citizens, rather than leaving them to shoulder the burden alone as if they were not full and equal members of society.
How society in general responds is also important. Professor Shiraz Dossa, an academic at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, who attended the infamous Holocaust denial conference in Iran at the end of 2006, was criticized by his university administration and public figures. When the authorities take a stand, instead of hiding behind a ‘free speech’ red herring, it is an important step in the battle against hatred and bigotry. Indeed, the Senate of Canada, at the initiative of one of its members, the Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein, took the step of passing a “Resolution to condemn the Holocaust Denial Conference”, which sent a strong public message that such hate activity is not welcome. Comparing this incident to the largely passive approach adopted by Quebec’s Bouchard-Taylor Commission to public expressions of open hatred against Quebec’s minority communities, only highlights the point that it is necessary to speak out against hate, wherever and however it manifests itself.
It can be no coincidence that there was a significant spike in antisemitic incidents in November 2007 at the height of the Commission’s hearings, with more than two thirds taking place in Quebec itself. While there were submissions on relevant issues that used respectful and sensitive language, the hearings proved to be a magnet for intolerance and bigotry. That is why Guy Lachapelle, a political science professor at Concordia University, recognizing the harmful nature of the proceedings, called for an immediate shut down of the Commission as a pulpit for xenophobes.xi
Unfortunately, instead of calming the waters, the process stoked the flames of discord, feeding into and amplifying every misconception and bias, and giving a largely unrestricted public platform to ignorance and racism. Rather than neutralizing the poisonous nature of the January 2007 Hérouxville Manifesto xii - purportedly the catalyst that sparked the creation of the Commission - and civilizing the sometimes ugly province-wide debate over the issue of reasonable accommodation, these hearings inadvertently breathed new life into the prejudices and fears of the populace.
In broader terms, an assault is brewing on religious rights of all minority groups, as seen in presentations made to the Commission by union leaders for a “charter of secularism” that would prohibit any public servant – from judge to teacher to hospital staff – from wearing religious symbols or dress. That would include barring orthodox Jews from wearing a kipa, Sikhs from wearing a turban, or Muslims from wearing a hijab.
Further accentuating the findings of the Audit in terms of the Quebec picture, is an attitudinal study released in February 2008, which confirms there is significant cause for concern. The Léger Marketing poll, commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies, sheds light not only on the disturbing attitudes of Quebecers towards minority groups in general, but also on their latent - and in some cases overt - prejudices vis à vis the Jewish community.
According to the survey findings, 41% per cent of Quebecers agreed with the notion that “Jews want to impose their customs and traditions on others”, compared with only 11% per cent in the rest of Canada. Similarly, 42% disagreed with the statement “Jews want to participate fully in society”, a premise with which 72% of other Canadians agreed. More than a third of Quebecers disputed that “Jews have made an important contribution to society”, a statement with which more than three quarters of other Canadians agreed.xiii
These findings do not mean that prejudice towards Jews only exists in Quebec; the number of antisemitic incidents rose in other provinces as well during 2007, with more than half occurring in Ontario. Clearly, there is work to be done across Canada in terms of fighting racism, raising public awareness, and supporting victims. The overall picture described in this Audit should, however, prompt Canadians to deconstruct the ivory tower that some have built in terms of trying to assure us that racism is merely an inconvenience to be lived with, but no longer a scourge to be fought with every means at our disposal.
iCombating anti-Semitism in Europe, Resolution 1563 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, June 2007
http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta07/ERES1563.htm.
iiAntisemitic Incidents Report 2007 (London, UK: Community Security Trust, 2008); Report of the Jewish Community Protection Service (Paris, France: The Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions in France, 2008); 2007 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents (United States: Anti-Defamation League, 2008, http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_Domestic/Audit_2007.htm); Antisemitism in Australia and Eurasia – 2007 (Kyiv: Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, 2008); Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism: A Report Provided to the United States Congress (Washington, D.C: United States Department of State, 2008); Antisemitism: 2007 Hate Crime Survey (New York, NY: Human Rights First, 2007).
iiiRt. Hon. Dr. Dennis MacShane MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism, “The New Anti-Semitism”, Washington Post, A17, September 4, 2007. For the full Inquiry Report, see http://thepcaa.org/Report.pdf.
ivSee Human Rights First, supra note ii.
vMatthew Lauder, “News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society”, CanCon Archives,
http://www.canadiancontent.ca/articles/071502mediaracism.html, cited in A. Marguerite Cassin, Tamara Krawchenko & Madine VanderPlaat, Racism and Discrimination in Canada: Laws, Policies and Practices, Multiculturalism & Human Rights Research Reports #3, Social Policy, Research and
Planning Directorate, Multiculturalism and Human Rights Program (Ottawa, ON: Department of Canadian Heritage, 2007).
viUnited States Department of State, supra note ii.
viiStormfront Canada. – quoted in the 2003 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents (Toronto: League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada, 2004), http://www.bnaibrith.ca/publications/audit2003/audit2003-05.html.
viiiSee MacShane, supra note iii.
ixMarshall Shapiro, “Hate crimes new focus of Crime Stoppers”, Jewish Tribune, p. 3, March 27, 2008.
xSee, for example, Status Report, Hate Crime Team, Vancouver Police Department, January 1999 to June 2000. See also Hate Crimes in Canada: An Overview of Issues and Data Sources (Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, 2001), http://hatemonitor.csusb.edu/other_countries_laws/HateCrime-English.pdf.
xiHubert Bauch, “Tarnished image from reasonable accommodation hearings?”, CanWest News Service, November 11, 2007.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1e85ac5e-3624-4c6e-9b45-196c333bd690&k=73941.
xiiHérouxville Manifesto (Hérouxville, QC: Municipality of Hérouxville, 2007), signed by the Mayor and six city councilors,
http://municipalite.herouxville.qc.ca/Standards.pdf.
xiiiLysiane Gagnon, “Quebec: Why so intolerant?”, Globe and Mail, A15, March 10, 2008. For survey results, go to
http://www.acsaec.ca/index.php?option=com_polls&xlang=Englis&year=2008.
Incidents that involve or reflect an increasing worldwide trend toward virulent anti-Zionist rhetoric have been included only if there is a clear anti-Jewish component. This would necessitate the victim or victim group being targeted on an almost irrational basis simply because of their Jewish name or appearance and perceived affiliation with, or support for, Israel.
