For over a decade, Jews have been the most targeted group in Canada, and particularly in Toronto, home to the largest Jewish population in the country.
Jews have been the single-most targeted group in Canada in 2016 for the 12th year in a row.
Of a total of 145 incidents of hate-crimes reported to police, Jews were victimized 43 times, according to the Toronto Police Service 2016 Annual Hate/Bias Crime Statistical Report.
While Jews were the most victimized minority group overall as well as among religious groups, the numbers are also disproportionate to Toronto’s Jewish population, the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) pointed out. Jews comprise only 3.8 per cent of the city’s population of 2.8 million.
Some 200,000 Jews live in the Greater Toronto Area, making it Canada’s largest Jewish community.
The number of incidents against Jews reached as high as 174 in 2009, and fell as low as 123 in 2011. The average number of occurrences is 141.
The three most reported hate crimes in 2016 were “mischief to property,” assault and “criminal harassment.”
The Jewish community was the most victimized group for mischief to property.
The report states that after Jews, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community was the next most targeted group, reporting 24 occurrences, followed by the black and Muslim communities, reporting 22 occurrences each.
“For the 12th year in a row, the Jewish community remains the most targeted for hate crimes within the city of Toronto. Our own annual audit has shown a sharp increase in anti-Semitism over the past decade within Canada as a whole,” said Amanda Hohmann, national director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights, according to CJN.
Montreal Sheikh: Jews are ‘Human Demons’
Toronto is not unique as far as anti-Semitism and hate crimes are concerned. In December, for instance, Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr led hate-inciting Friday prayers at Dar Al-Arqam mosque (Mosquée Dar Al-Arqam) in Montreal. In his sermon, CIJNews reported, the Jordanian cleric called the Jews the “most evil of mankind” and “human demons,” stressing that their fate was predetermined by Allah to be murdered by Muslims.
“It is time that our lawmakers and politicians step up with a real plan to combat anti-Semitism in our city, our province and our country. It is time that Canadians, as a whole, acknowledge that the Jewish community is targeted at a grossly disproportionate rate, and that we begin to work together to solve this,” Hohmann stated.
By: World Israel News Staff