‘An alarming and escalating trend’: Jewish community calls out hate after synagogue targeted

A senior official with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says antisemitic graffiti scrawled on a Winnipeg synagogue is not only an attack on the Jewish community, but a threat to Canadian values and the country’s way of life.

“We are concerned that this type of attack, intimidation, displays of hate and antisemitism, are becoming normalized in our Canadian way of life,” Gustavo Zentner, vice president at CIJA, told the Free Press Sunday. “The problem with this is that once it gets normalized, it’s very difficult for society to uproot it, to take a stand against it, and to protect its own citizens.”

Zentner’s comments follow the vandalism of Congregation Shaarey Zedek by an unknown individual early Friday morning.

Security camera footage shows a lone individual approaching the synagogue at about 4:30 a.m., pulling out a can of spray paint and vandalizing windows on the synagogue’s doors, as well as part of the marble siding facing Wellington Crescent.

The graffiti included two swastikas, the word “hate,” and another word believed to be an acronym, the meaning of which was not immediately clear. Maintenance staff discovered the graffiti later that morning and quickly removed most of it.

Winnipeg police confirmed Saturday the incident is being investigated by the Major Crimes Unit, but said no further details were available.

Zentner said he’s spoken with all three levels of government, along with local Jewish groups, in the aftermath of Friday’s incident.

“This incident reflects an alarming and escalating trend,” Zentner said. “Winnipeg is now appearing on the national map alongside Montreal, Toronto, and other Canadian cities experiencing targeted antisemitic attacks against synagogues. This trajectory is deeply concerning and demands co-ordinated attention.”

Zentner said he recently participated in a meeting with federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and multiple law enforcement agencies, where officials expressed alarm that conditions similar to those preceding last month’s ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia — which killed 15 people and injured dozens more — already exist in Canada.

“Namely, normalized hate in the streets, intimidation of the Jewish community and other minority groups, challenging the rule of law, chants such as ‘Globalize the intifada,’ and civil unrest,” Zentner said. “These are signals that should alarm all Canadians, not one particular group exclusively.”

The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg expressed shock and sadness at the hateful graffiti.

“This was an act of pure antisemitism, intended to intimidate. It did not succeed. Yesterday, members of our community came together at Shabbat services, showing that hate cannot shake our unity or our resolve,” Jeff Lieberman, the federation’s president and CEO, said in a written statement Sunday. He said security will be present at future services.

“We are deeply concerned that incidents such as these are not occurring in isolation. They follow similar patterns in Montreal and Toronto and are part of a broader rise in antisemitic acts affecting our community.”

In late October, the federation announced the hiring of William Sagel as its regional community security director for Manitoba and Saskatchewan — a move the organization described as a co-ordinated, proactive approach to community safety.

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The role, which Sagel officially moved into on Dec. 1, includes reviewing security infrastructure across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, overseeing event security planning, managing grant-supported upgrades and co-ordinating staff and volunteer training.

The Federation said Sagel will be an integral part of a national framework that will enable the organization to draw on established security programs and technologies developed in Montreal and Toronto.

Local Jewish leaders praised the hire at the time.

“I wholeheartedly endorse this move, and in my short time in Winnipeg, I have seen enough to support this kind of effort,” said Rabbi Carnie Rose, senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.