Ottawa awoke Thursday morning to yet another burst of anti-Semitic hate, when a Jewish congregation south of downtown became the city’s latest target for vandals.
Bright red swastikas, racist slurs and the message “save the white race” were painted on the walls and property of the Machzikei Hadas synagogue sometime overnight.
“When I walked in this morning and saw it — I have to express that this is much more than graffiti vandalism,” said Rabbi Idan Scher. “The images and words that were put on our walls are representative of the systematic annihilation of our people. And that, of course, was incredibly disturbing.”
Ottawa Police said they arrived on the scene, in the Alta Vista neighbourhood south of downtown Ottawa, around 7 a.m. Thursday.
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“We opened a report and the investigation is ongoing,” said police spokesman Cnst. Marc Soucy.
This is the second such incident in Ottawa this week, though police can’t say whether the two are connected.
On Tuesday morning a rabbi in the Glebe neighbourhood awoke to find a bright red swastika and racist slur spray painted on her front door.
Talking to Global News Thursday morning, Rabbi Scher said he can’t explain what could evoke such behaviour.
“All I really know is that in order to be able to write something like this, you have to have a despicable, cowardly hatred inside of you,” he said.
“I can’t begin to contemplate the deep-seated hatred that comes from someone, that’s boiling inside of s someone who would do something like this.”
Security cameras are installed around the synagogue’s property, but there is little usable footage because the vandals covered the lenses with paint, Scher said.
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“We got a quick glimpse and then they were spray painted,” he said. “Just judging from the height of the swastikas and the like, I don’t think this was the work of hooligan kids … There was an intention. This was a real expression of hatred. Not just vandalism or people being a bit rowdy.”
The Ottawa Citizen reported another synagogue was the target of similar vandalism last weekend, but cleaned it up quickly and chose to not publicize the incident.
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Police said they are not investigating that reported incident at Kehillat Beth Israel.
Although disturbing, Scher and Rabbi emeritus Reuven Bulka — who led the congregation since the 1960s — said the incident has brought people of different faiths together.
Both said they spent their mornings fielding messages of support from “far outside” the Jewish community.
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“Today, I got a call from the mayor, the head of United Way called, the head of the Islamic Association called, the bishop called, the arch-bishop called,” Bulka said. “I mean and all to condemn and say this is horrible. So in an odd way, this horrible thing is also very uplifting on a communal level.”
Police have not determined whether any of the recent events can be classified as hate crimes. While speaking with Global News on Tuesday, Ottawa police spokesman Cnst. Chuck Benoit said investigators have several steps to take before vandalism can be pursued as a hate crime.
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In Canada, religion is the second-most common motivator for a hate crime after race, according to Statistics Canada. Together, the two accounted for 80 per cent of all police-reported hate crimes in 2014.
Black people are the most targeted group in Canada, accounting for almost 40 per cent of racially motivated hate crimes and 18 per cent of all hate crimes; Jewish Canadians are a close second, accounting for 50 per cent of religion-motivated hate crimes and 16 per cent of all hate crimes reported in the Statistics Canada report.
Homosexuals and Muslims are the third and fourth most targeted groups in Canada, according to the data.
With a file from Global News’ Monique Scotti
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