Canadian law-enforcement officials are investigating some 100 bomb threats on Wednesday at synagogues, and other Jewish community centers and organizations across the country.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said it is “deeply concerned” about the development, which Michael Levitt, its president and CEO, called “absolutely chilling.”
“For many, many months, Canada’s Jewish community has raised alarm bells about the escalation of rampant Jew-hatred, as incitement and hateful rhetoric have become normalized online, on our city streets, and on our university and college campuses,” he stated.
“Repeated calls for violence against Jews and Jewish institutions are a stark reminder that extremism and radicalization are thriving in Canada, and must be confronted before it’s too late. The time for our leaders to step up is now,” he added.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the threats “blatant antisemitism” and wrote that he is “disgusted” about the news.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police “is in contact with local law enforcement to investigate, and we’re working with them to keep Jewish Canadians safe,” he added.
“Those who make threats to any religious institution in Canada, whether churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, gurdwaras, etc. should be charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Anthony Housefather, a Jewish Canadian parliamentarian. “Nobody should be intimidated from entering community buildings.”
Melissa Lantsman, a Jewish Canadian parliamentarian, wrote that it was “another week, another openly brazen threat to the Jewish community. “
“How on earth is this tolerated in Canada? Antisemitic hatred is spreading like a plague across our country and Trudeau is silent. We must act now to protect our people,” she wrote. (Her tweet was sent some six hours before Trudeau posted his.)
“It should never become normal for any worship services to be disrupted and evacuated from threats,” she added. “Canada is not the free country we know and love if the right to worship freely and safely needs to be protected. Immediately. Now. Today.”
B’nai Brith Canada stated that it, too, received a bomb threat.
“This is not just an attack on our safety—it’s an attack on the fabric of Canadian society,” it stated. “Authorities are treating this as a hate crime and are taking immediate, decisive action to protect our people.”
(JNS)