Hebrew immersion elementary school on guard after antisemitic vandalism at synagogue, high school

An elementary school in River Heights that offers the province’s only Hebrew immersion program is assuring families that it is following security protocols in the wake of recent hate-fuelled vandalism incidents in order to keep students and staff safe.

In an emailed letter sent to Brock Corydon School families Wednesday, principal Lars Sigurdson and vice-principal Richard Hechter said they are in regular contact with the Winnipeg Police Service to ensure the school is safe and secure.

“We are aware of the recent incidents at Kelvin High School and Shaarey Zedek (synagogue), and we understand that these events may cause concern,” said the letter. “Please know that the safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority.”

The school said it is continuing to follow all required security protocols, including keeping all exterior doors locked and monitored, maintaining clear entry points and visitor procedures, regular checkups on safety equipment and emergency plans and immediately reporting any suspicious activity to police.

“Our staff is vigilant, and we encourage everyone to speak up if something feels out of place,” the email said. “These measures are in place to provide a safe and supportive environment for all.”

The email comes a day after Kelvin High School became the latest target of antisemitic graffiti, days after nearby Shaarey Zedek synagogue was defaced with similar imagery that police are treating as a hate crime.

In a letter sent to parents Tuesday, including parents at Brock Corydon, Winnipeg School Division superintendent Matt Henderson said he was informed that a swastika had been scrawled on the high school.

That graffiti at Shaarey Zedek, spray-painted at about 4:30 a.m. Jan. 2, 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.

Police said Monday they are investigating the tagging as a hate crime.

Early Sunday, Habibiz Café, a Palestinian-owned hookah lounge and restaurant, was vandalized, its front windows smashed by an unknown assailant.

The individual also left a piece of paper with a message: “Leave our country terrorist. F—k off.”

That incident is also being investigated as a hate crime.

Lori Binder, head of school and CEO of Gray Academy of Jewish Education, said safety protocols at the predominantly Jewish-attended school have been in place for years.

“We have quite a strong infrastructure when it comes to school safety and security; we’re always in a responsive mode,” Binder said Wednesday.

She said nothing has changed since the recent incidents at Shaarey Zedek and Kelvin High School.

Because the independent kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school is located at the Asper Jewish Community Campus, security guards are already on site.

Binder said the school has not experienced any recent incidents of antisemitism on campus, though the ways in which it manifests have expanded.

“There’s no doubt that our kids are experiencing something different in the big world of social media, and what they are seeing online has been vastly different and continues to change much more quickly than our physical spaces,” she said. “So supporting them and navigating that world is also something really crucial for their well-being.”

Binder urged people to “be the light” and to act as upstanders rather than bystanders.

“Hate is hate. Crime is crime,” she said. “And if it’s us today, it’s going to be someone else tomorrow, and we need to find the way to be the light and to be upstanders and also educate.

“And it really is essential that we are educating our youth in order that they have critical thinking and they have strong skills as they become adults going into the world.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Scott Gillingham echoed a similar message Wednesday to one he shared on social media earlier in the week, urging residents to hold one another accountable and to speak up when incidents occur — even among friends and co-workers.

“It’s very concerning to see this happen at a school,” Gillingham said. “I see this as a real opportunity for them to be having conversations as students in his classrooms about what’s going on, about the rise of antisemitism that is happening across Canada, about Islamophobic actions that are happening across the nation. It’s an opportunity for the proverbial teaching moment, and for students.”

Gillingham also pointed to the role of social media, citing a recent example on his Facebook page. A comment from one of his supporters was met with hateful responses, including messages telling the individual — whom Gillingham said was not Caucasian — to “go home,” or words to that effect.

“That’s just reprehensible,” Gillingham said. “It’s unacceptable that Winnipeggers would say stuff like that, and it’s not the kind of world we’ll try to live in, it’s not the city that we’re trying to build.

“Those kinds of comments, I have a real, real problem with it, and we all should.”

Gillingham said he and his team have recently discussed whether to remain active on certain social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca