OTTAWA-
B’nai Brith Canada says there were record levels of antisemitism in Canada last year, with sharp increases in Quebec and British Columbia.
The annual audit shows there were 2,799 anti-Jewish hate crimes, including beatings, vandalism of synagogues and swastikas in schools.
Recorded incidents of antisemitism were up seven per cent, but B’nai Brith says the number of violent incidents rose from nine in 2020 to 75 in 2021.
In one incident a man allegedly gave a Nazi salute before assaulting a woman at a Toronto subway station.
In another an employee at an Ontario liquor store was assaulted by a customer hurling antisemitic abuse.
The report says a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes last May, coincided with escalating violence in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2022