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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Violence against Manitoba Jews rises
MANITOBA stood out among other provinces with a rise in anti-Semitic acts of violence in 2011, said an annual report released Monday.
The annual audit on anti-Semitism, compiled by the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith in Canada, stated reports of violence against Jews dropped 20.8 per cent nationally.
In Manitoba, there were three separate cases, including an incident at Oak Park High School, where a Jewish student's hair was set on fire with a lighter.
In the same month, the second case of anti-Semitic violence in Manitoba involved a male student at the University of Winnipeg. The student was accosted by another male student and told to "get that disgusting Zionist star (Star of David necklace) off."
"Then he flipped out and came to me and basically threatened to kill me and called me a dirty Zionist fascist. Then he grabbed the necklace and pulled it," the student reported to B'nai Brith.
In the third case, a 70-year-old man in Gimli was targeted for repeated harassment by a condo neighbour, said Alan Yusim, B'nai Brith Canada's Midwest regional director.
"The neighbour got drunk one night.. in January 2011... and grabbed the elderly man and pushed him," Yusim said. Police were called and a restraining order was placed against the neighbour.
"Any time there are three cases of violence, we really have to take a look at the cause of the violence," Yusim said, describing the Jewish population as disproportionately targeted for attack in Manitoba.
Acts of anti-Semitic harassment dropped nationally in 2011 but rose in Manitoba, and anti-Semitic vandalism rose elsewhere but dropped in Manitoba. Nationally, there were 1,297 reports to B'Nai Brith of acts motivated by hate, including harassment, vandalism and violence.
In Manitoba, there were 78 such cases last year compared to 60 in 2010. Few were reported to police.
alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 1, 2012 A4
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