A woman holds a Jewish religious book as she walks near the scene of a stabbing incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Thursday.Ian Hodgson/The Associated Press
A prominent Canadian Jewish organization is calling on “leaders of all levels” to enhance security at synagogues after a vehicle and knife attack at a U.K. synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to ensure Jewish institutions are protected and that all who “incite and commit violence against Canadians are held accountable.”
“From Ottawa and Montreal to Manchester and Washington, anti-Israel and antisemitic radicalization is fuelling violence against citizens of our countries,” the organization said in a social media post.
Thursday’s attack in Manchester, which saw two people killed and three others hospitalized, is being described by local police as an act of terrorism.
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Statistics Canada has tracked a significant increase in the number of police-reported hate crimes against Jewish people in the past two years. Incidents have included firebombs at synagogues, and gunshots fired on multiple occasions at a Toronto Jewish school.
Police in Ottawa recently charged a man accused of what they called a hate-motivated stabbing of a Jewish woman at a grocery store.
In England, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said the attack in Manchester was the result of “an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred” on the streets and online.
“This is the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come,” he wrote on social media.
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Carney said in a media statement Thursday that hate must be confronted with all available tools and Canada will protect the right of Jewish communities to live free from intimidation.
Police services across Canada, including those in Ottawa and Toronto, increased patrols near Jewish institutions as people gathered to observe Yom Kippur. Ottawa Police said there is no known threat to public safety at this time.
The government introduced hate crime legislation last month that looks to create new offences aimed at acts of obstruction or intimidation at places of worship and institutions – including schools, daycares and seniors’ homes – used by identifiable groups.
In a background document, the government said that “intimidation” under the new legislation could include “threats, acts of violence, or other intimidating behaviour,” while “deliberately blocking doors, driveways, or roads” could count as obstruction.
The maximum penalty for both offences would be 10 years in prison, or just under two years for what the government calls “less serious offences.”
This bill is not meant to create “bubble zones” that prohibit protests around designated buildings.