Police investigate after ‘hateful words’ spewed at HSC menorah lighting

A Hanukkah event at Health Sciences Centre was disrupted Monday by someone who yelled antisemitic hate speech at staff, patients and other attendees, prompting a Winnipeg police investigation.

The “deeply disturbing” incident happened during the annual menorah lighting ceremony, said HSC chief operating officer Monika Warren and Shared Health interim president and CEO Dr. Chris Christodoulou.

“This behaviour was unacceptable and has no place in our facility and community,” the pair said in a statement Wednesday. “We extend our sincerest apologies to everyone who was present and acknowledge the real pain, fear and trauma that such hateful words can cause, particularly during what should have been a moment of peace, reflection and celebration.”

A spokesperson for Shared Health, which operates HSC, said Winnipeg police officers were not present at the event.

HSC’s menorah lighting was held after police said there would be an increased presence at Jewish community gatherings in Winnipeg, after 15 people were killed in an antisemitic terror attack in Sydney, Australia on Sunday.

The incident at HSC was reported to police afterward.

“I can confirm that the WPS is aware of the incident and is investigating,” spokesman Const. Claude Chancy wrote in an email.

Police attended Hanukkah events at Chabad-Lubavitch of Winnipeg on Sunday and city hall Monday afternoon.

In a social media post, Jewish Physicians of Manitoba, a coalition that combats antisemitism in medicine, said the person deliberately disrupted the celebration with “overt hate speech and intimidation” at a time when the community is already feeling exposed and vulnerable.

“Security and police responses are under review, and investigations are ongoing,” the post said. “We will not allow this to break our spirit or diminish the meaning of this holiday.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara condemned the “hateful and antisemitic rhetoric” that was yelled at those who attended the menorah lighting at HSC.

“Antisemitism has no place in our health-care system. It has no place anywhere in Manitoba,” Asagwara said in a statement. “HSC is a facility that is proud of its Jewish staff and patient community, and a place where all faiths are welcome. We should all feel safe as we practise our faith or celebrate holidays together as a community.”

Health department officials have contacted police and HSC security to begin discussing plans for future Hanukkah events at the hospital.

Jeff Lieberman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, said HSC is a place where people of all faiths gather and go to receive care.

“Everyone should feel safe to practise their faith and express who they are,” he wrote in an email to the Free Press. “Antisemitism has no place in our hospitals or anywhere else and must not become normalized.”

He said Jewish Manitobans increasingly face antisemitism in everyday places, including schools, workplaces and on the street.

“Shared spaces, like hospitals, must remain safe and welcoming for everyone,” he wrote. “That is why it is so important for our community leaders, whether they are politicians, business leaders or religious leaders as well as all other Manitobans, that believe in Canadian values to speak out and reject hatred wherever it appears.”

Mayor Scott Gillingham, who hosted a menorah lighting ceremony at city hall Monday, echoed that statement, urging people to take a stand against hate and call it out when they witness it.

“No one in the city of Winnipeg, no one in the world should be the victim of hate and violence simply because of who they are, their religious belief or their ethnicity,” he said in response to the incident at HSC. “Antisemitism, Islamophobia, hate of any kind against any group has no place in our city.”

— With files from Joyanne Pursaga

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca