Number of Anti-semitic Incidents Hit New High Last Year in Canada

The number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in Canada last year was the highest since B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights began tabulating such data in 1982, according to the league’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents, released here Monday.

The report enumerated 251 incidents of harassment and vandalism, a 19 percent increase over 1990 and a 42 percent increase over 1989.

This parallels the trend in the United States, where a record number of anti-Semitic incidents was recorded last year by the Canadian league’s U.S. counterpart, the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL, in its annual report published last week, registered 1,879 acts of violence, threats or harassment against Jews in the United States for the year. That is an 11 percent increase over 1990 and a record high since ADL began its annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents 13 years ago.

While the overall number of incidents in Canada is far fewer than the U.S. number, the percentage increase from 1990 is larger.

In Canada, the most serious anti-Semitic attacks noted were the spray-painting of neo-Nazi graffiti on a synagogue in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto; the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan in Quebec’s Eastern Townships; and a national speaking tour by Holocaust-denier David Irving.

Most of the incidents fell in the categories of verbal abuse and hate propaganda. Violent attacks against Jewish institutions and desecrations of synagogues and cemeteries declined, the report stated.

The Canadian league’s national chairman, Professor Stephen Scheinberg, attributed the increase in total incidents to tensions preceding and stemming from the Persian Gulf War and the impact of the global economic recession.

“The Gulf War provided an emotional stimulus for anti-Semites to vent their hatred of Jews. The turmoil evident this year also created a conducive environment for hate groups to increase their racist activities,” he wrote.