City synagogues among more than 100 Canadian Jewish groups threatened in emails

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This article was published 21/08/2024 (441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba member of Parliament is condemning a wave of bomb threats that placed Jewish organizations and synagogues across Canada — including in Winnipeg — on high alert Wednesday.

“It makes me sad, and at a loss for words, that we are in a moment whereby this type of behaviour and action is becoming more normalized,” Liberal MP Ben Carr, a Jewish caucus member from Winnipeg South Centre, told the Free Press.

“As a society, as a community — regardless of where we come from or what religion we subscribe to — we have a responsibility to speak out when our neighbours and our classmates and our colleagues are victims of hate.”

B’nai Brith Canada said more than 100 Jewish institutions received an email at about 6 a.m. (Winnipeg time) threatening explosions.

RCMP confirmed the threats were made to “a number of institutions, including synagogues and hospitals, across Canada.”

“We are working with local law enforcement, who are actively responding to ensure locations are safe and secure. Law enforcement is also engaging with faith-based leaders to ensure they have the information and support they need,” said a statement from RCMP’s national headquarters.

“We want to reassure the public that the safety and security of Canadians is our top priority.”

Jeff Lieberman, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, said several synagogues in the city filed police reports after receiving “malicious threats” designed to “instil fear and disrupt community life.”

The federation did not receive the threat, Lieberman said.

The Winnipeg Police Service could not immediately confirm whether it is investigating such reports, but said it will keep the public informed of any relevant developments.

“If there is something that has happened and it’s something we need to make the public aware of, we certainly will,” spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said.

The threats come amid a significant rise in antisemitism in Canada following the Hamas attack on Israel last fall, and Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza. B’nai Brith Canada’s annual report in May said the reports of antisemitic incidents in Canada doubled in 2023, including 77 that were violent.

Gustavo Zentner, vice-president for Manitoba and Saskatchewan at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said the emails should be of concern for all who live here.

“This hate crime targets the Jewish community, but others may be targets, too, at some point,” he said.

“This hate crime targets the Jewish community, but others may be targets, too, at some point.”–Gustavo Zentner

Carr agreed, and urged Canadians not to lash out against one another in response to the conflict in the Middle East.

“Jews and Israelis, Muslims and Palestinians in Winnipeg, broadly speaking, cannot be held accountable for the decisions or the actions that are being undertaken by leaders and governments across the world,” he said. “Until people are able to recognize the differences and separate them, we are going to be in a difficult place here, domestically, in Canada.”

Zenter called the threats “an attack on our Canadian values” and said the local Jewish community is “looking to government and law enforcement for practical solutions to address extremism and antisemitism in all of its forms.”

Carr reached out to some senior leaders in Manitoba’s Jewish community to determine who received the threats, he said.

He said he has also been in contact with his colleagues in the Liberal party’s Jewish caucus, who are working together to advocate for a response on a federal level.

He pledged to “continue to advocate within government for a variety of different policies and actions that can restore a sense of safety to our communities,” citing the security infrastructure program.

Last fall, the federal government invested $10 million into the program, which helps fund security improvements at gathering spaces for communities at risk of hate-motivated crimes.

The RCMP said an investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the threats.

— with files from The Canadian Press

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

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