‘We cannot be casual bystanders’: police say vandalism at synagogue, Palestinian-owned café appear motivated by hate

City police say they are investigating two recent incidents of vandalism at a hookah lounge and a synagogue as hate crimes.

The Winnipeg Police Service made the announcement at a news conference Monday.

“Within a matter of days, the Jewish and Palestinian communities have been impacted by incidents that appear to be motivated by hate, but certainly caused fear and harm,” said Insp. Jennifer McKinnon from the WPS’s major crimes unit. “The victims are not isolated to those on the receiving end of the harmful actions. These incidents affect all of us and have a detrimental impact on our entire community.”

Someone smashed the front windows at Habibiz Café, at 1373 Portage Ave., shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday and left a note saying, “Leave our country terrorist. F—k off.”

The owner, Ali Zeid, is of Palestinian heritage and has operated the café for five years, he said Sunday.

“I don’t know where they want me to go,” Zeid said. “I was born at the Grace Hospital. We’re not leaving. We’re staying. We’re open. Nothing is going to stop us.”

Zeid said he was confronted behind his business in a back alley a few days prior to Sunday’s attack, claiming that two individuals uttered similar sentiments toward him.

Police on Monday couldn’t say if the two incidents at the cafe were connected.

At about 4:30 a.m. Friday, someone spray-painted graffiti two swastikas, the word “hate” and another word believed to be an acronym on the doors of Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

Maintenance staff discovered the graffiti at the Wellington Crescent site later that morning. McKinnon said that a suspicious bag was also discarded at the scene, which was found as synagogue staff were preparing video evidence for investigators. The bag posed no threat to the public, McKinnon said.

“The problem is we don’t think that it’s an isolated thing,” said Rena Secter Elbaze, executive director at Shaarey Zedek, said Monday. “It’s part of a climate of hatred that is growing and is being allowed. It’s not being suppressed. It seems to be gaining legitimacy, and we really need to speak out against it.”

McKinnon said police don’t believe the incidents over the weekend were connected, although she said she is cautious in saying that this early in the investigation.

In October, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg announced it was hiring a regional director of security, tasked with bolstering safety for Jewish communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

“We are concerned that this type of attack, intimidation, displays of hate and antisemitism are becoming normalized in our Canadian way of life,” said Gustavo Zentner, vice-president at Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

Mayor Scott Gillingham, who posted about both incidents on social media on Sunday, held court at city hall Monday to talk about both crimes.

“We don’t want to see this,” Gillingham said, adding he’s concerned about the rise in antisemitism in Winnipeg and across the nation. “These two incidents were very intentional. They’re trying to intimidate and target individuals of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, but… the goal is the same — to try and make Winnipeggers unwelcome in their own city because of their ethnicities or their religious background.

“It’s hate. We cannot tolerate this kind of action in our city.”

Gillingham said he reached out to both Shaarey Zedek and Zeid to express his support.

McKinnon said that other Winnipeggers have a role to play in standing up against hate.

“We are imploring the community… we cannot be casual bystanders for these types of incidents that are happening in our community,” she said.

“We are all part of this community, and we are requesting if you have any information regarding either of these occurrences or any occurrence that you report it to the Winnipeg Police Service.”

Gillingham echoed that sentiment.

“As community members, when we see that kind of talk online, when we hear it in the locker room when we’re playing hockey… when we hear it at school, we should stand up and say it’s not acceptable. I think it’s time for us to raise our voices and push back against it.”

— With files from Joyanne Pursaga

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca