Two synagogues, multiple Jewish homes, and a vehicle were vandalized with antisemitic, neo-Nazi graffiti in Queens, New York.

By World Israel News Staff

Several Jewish sites and private homes in Queens were defaced with swastikas and antisemitic graffiti overnight Sunday, prompting a hate crimes investigation and condemnation from city officials and Jewish community leaders.

The vandalism targeted at least two synagogues, several homes, and a vehicle, according to local officials and media reports.

The sites included Rego Park Jewish Center and Congregation Machane Chodosh in Forest Hills.

Rabbi Romiel Daniel of Rego Park Jewish Center said the synagogue was vandalized before dawn with Nazi swastikas and the phrase “Heil Hitler.”

A pentagram and the phrase “F*ck Baahl” were also spray-painted at the site, apparently a reference to online conspiracy theories promoting the false claim that Judaism includes secret rituals in worship of deities bearing the honorific “Baal.”

A plaque honoring victims of Kristallnacht was also defaced at Congregation Machane Chodosh, a synagogue founded by German Jewish refugees.

“The swastika actually lands right over a plaque dedicated to Jews murdered in Germany because they were Jewish,” Rabbi Yosef Mendelson of Congregation Machane Chodosh told ABC7. “Especially because our synagogue was built by refugees from Germany.”

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said police were investigating multiple sites after she visited Congregation Machane Chodosh with Council members Lynn Schulman and Phil Wong.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

“I am horrified and angered by the swastikas painted on homes and synagogues in Queens,” Mamdani wrote on X. He called the vandalism “a deliberate act of antisemitic hatred meant to instill fear.”

Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, said the attacks showed the need for stronger security support for Jewish institutions.

“Waking up to swastikas on a synagogue, homes, and a Jewish center that houses a preschool is not just vandalism, it is a direct act of intimidation against an entire community,” Altfield said.

“We’re working closely with synagogue leadership and guiding next steps to protect families and strengthen security in the short term,” she added.

Altfield said the incident underscored the importance of security grants and ensuring institutions can access them.

“This is exactly why sustained investment in security for Jewish institutions is so critical,” she said. “It also underscores how important it is not only to secure that funding but also to ensure institutions can access it.”

Jewish Community Relations Council of New York CEO Mark Treyger said one of the targeted sites housed a pre-kindergarten program, “where young children, their families, and staff were greeted with swastikas and other hateful vandalism,” according to The Jerusalem Post.

Rep. Grace Meng condemned the graffiti as “disgusting” and said antisemitic hate would not be accepted in Queens.

“Once again, antisemitic hate has reared its ugly head in our community, and I am sickened by this vile act of antisemitism,” Meng said. “I’ve said it many times, and I will say it again: Hate has no place in Queens or anywhere else in our society.”

Altfield thanked elected officials for responding quickly.

“We will continue working with Congregation Machane Chodosh and other institutions to help them secure the grants and resources needed to strengthen their security across the community,” she said.

“We thank New York’s elected leaders for their strong and immediate support and for standing with Jewish New Yorkers when it matters most.”

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Italian Jewish community leaders condemned the attack as antisemitic and threatening to Italy’s democratic values.

By World Israel News Staff

A memorial honoring a two-year-old Jewish boy killed in a terror attack at a Rome synagogue was defaced earlier this week, with anti-Israel vandals spray-painting “Free Palestine” and anti-Zionist slogans across the site.

Michael Stefano Gaj Tachè was murdered in 1982 when Palestinian terrorists opened fire at the Great Synagogue of Rome. During the attack, the terrorists threw grenades and fired machine guns at unarmed Italian Jews who were leaving Shabbat and Shemini Atzeret holiday services. Gaj Tachè, only two years old, was killed, and more than 30 others were wounded.

In 2022, a wing of the Bet Michael Monteverde Synagogue in Rome was dedicated in his memory. Over the weekend, anti-Israel activists defaced the memorial plaque and scrawled messages including “Free Palestine” and “Monteverde is anti-Zionist and anti-fascist” on the synagogue’s exterior walls.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemned the vandalism in a statement on X. “Against every ghost of the past, enough antisemitism, enough hatred,” Tajani wrote, noting that he had contacted local Jewish community leaders to offer support.

Victor Fadlun, president of the Jewish community of Rome, said in a video statement that the attack occurred amid a stark uptick in antisemitism across Italy.

“All of this is part of a strategy of intimidation,” he said. “Antisemitism is being used as an instrument of political protest.”

The Union of Young Italian Jews also denounced the incident, calling the defacement “an insult to the Jewish community and, at the same time, a direct attack on Italy and the values on which our democracy is founded.”

The organization added that “those who commit such acts are not engaging in politics nor expressing dissent. They are fueling antisemitism – the same hatred that has already wounded Italy in the past and is resurfacing with disturbing ease.”

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Kehillat Shaarei Torah invested $160,000 in security after repeated attacks since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

By World Israel News Staff

A Toronto synagogue was vandalized on Tuesday evening, marking the 10th time that the Jewish house of worship has been targeted since the Hamas-led massacres on October 7 two years ago.

Security footage from Kehillat Shaarei Torah shows a masked suspect approaching the building, smashing several windows with a hammer, and then fleeing. Toronto Police Services (TPS) confirmed in a statement that its Hate Crimes Unit is investigating the incident.

Rabbi Joe Kanofsky told Canadian news outlet CBC that the attack had left the congregation uneasy.

“The community is a place where people come together as a faith community to thank God for the good life that we have and to pray for an even better world for everyone. This is obviously pretty far away from what we believe or what we hope happens around us,” Kanofsky said.

Quoting the Talmud, Kanofsky added that “‘Silence is acquiescence’ — if you don’t say anything, then people assume it doesn’t bother you, so the silence that comes from a lot of different levels is a clear message.”

Previous attacks saw windows smashed, signs on the synagogue lawn set on fire, and anti-Israel stickers posted on synagogue property.

Michael Gilmore, Kehillat Shaarei Torah’s executive director, told The Canadian Jewish News that many of the congregants believed the wave of attacks had stopped.

“The large majority of the community, including myself, had maybe incorrectly assumed that” the targeting of the synagogue had finally concluded.

“But that obviously is not the case,” he continued. “I think that [there] was just the feeling overall of ‘OK, we’ve been through this before, we know what to do. No one’s going to deter us from being proud Jews,’ but at the same time, we’re also kind of just tired of having to deal with it.”

Gilmore noted that the synagogue invested heavily in upgraded security — new fencing, additional cameras, and an overnight guard — at a cost of approximately $160,000.

The Canadian government is theoretically obligated to reimburse part of that amount through a community security grant, but the payment has yet to arrive due to bureaucratic delays.

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Two Canadian synagogues and a Chabad center were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, including a swastika and slogans blaming Jews for the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

By World Israel News Staff

Three Jewish centers were vandalized in eastern Canada over the weekend, including two synagogues.

On Sunday morning, worshippers discovered antisemitic graffiti spray-painted at the entrance to the Shaar Shalom Congregation in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The graffiti included a Nazi swastika and the words “Jews did 9/11,” referencing the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001.

Similar graffiti was also found spray-painted on the Beth Israel synagogue on Sunday, down the street from Shaar Shalom.

A third building, used as a Chabad center, was also targeted, with the “Jews did 9/11” graffiti painted on an exterior wall.

Beth Israel synagogue’s Rabbi Yakov Kerzner called the graffiti “disturbing,” and noted that the vandal or vandals likely spray-painted the building while congregants were inside praying on Saturday night.

“We haven’t experienced this until now in Halifax,” Rabbi Kerzner said, according to a report by CBC. “But this is an escalation which does concern the Jewish community.”

“It’s antisemitism, it’s pure anti-Jew hatred,” he added.

Rabbi Gary Karlin,of the Shaar Shalom Congregation said he was disturbed but not surprised by the incident.

“I’ve seen it … throughout Canada over the last two years…. I don’t know where this is going but I’m concerned about it.”

Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), and Atlantic Jewish Council Executive Director Yoram Abisror issued a joint statement Monday decrying the vandalism and calling for an “unequivocal and urgent response” from authorities and political leaders.”

“On the same weekend that extremists silenced fans from cheering on Team Canada, with protestors even publicly displaying the severed head of the Halifax mayor, a Halifax synagogue was defaced with hateful graffiti,” Abisror and Shack said.

“Whether intimidating sports fans, threatening elected officials, or targeting people at their places of worship, this is absolutely unacceptable in Canada — an assault on our core Canadian values. And requires an unequivocal and urgent response from police and political leaders.”

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London restaurateur accuses vandal of antisemitism after CCTV footage shows man ripping Jewish religious markers off of doorways of his restaurant and a synagogue.

By World Israel News Staff

A London synagogue and a kosher restaurant were targeted by a vandal who tore off Jewish religious items from the entrances to both establishments in what the restaurant’s owner dubbed an antisemitic hate crime.

The incident occurred at around 7:00 a.m. Saturday in north London when a man wearing a hooded jacket and face mask approached the entrance to a kosher restaurant, which was closed at the time given that it was the Sabbath, and tore off the mezuzah from the doorpost.

Mezuzahs – or mezuzot – are small pieces of parchment with Torah passages written by a trained scribe and placed in a small box and fitted on the doorways of homes and businesses owned or rented by observant Jews.

The vandal then proceeded and tore the mezuzah off of a nearby synagogue entrance.

Both acts of vandalism were caught on security cameras positioned in the synagogue and the restaurant.

Restaurant staff discovered the vandalism early Sunday morning as they prepared the eatery for business, while synagogue-goers spotted the missing mezuzah during the Sabbath.

Criminal complaints have been filed with police over the vandalism.

A London Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed that the reports were received and that an investigation has been launched.

“Police were called at around 11:00 on Saturday, March 22 to reports of vandalism and anti-social behavior at a restaurant and synagogue,” the Metropolitan Police said. “Early reports indicate a mezuzah was taken off the restaurant door before the suspects fled the scene. An investigation is underway and enquiries are ongoing.”

The restaurant owner told the London-based Jewish Chronicle that the incident has made him consider immigrating to Israel.

“It makes me want to go to Israel. How can I feel safe here?” he said. “When someone does this, they’re saying they hate Jews. He didn’t target anything to do with Hamas, Israel, or the IDF. He took the one thing that means the most to the Jewish people.”

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The vandalism of the Sydney synagogue follows incidents of antisemitic graffiti on cars also in Sydney and an arson attack in Melbourne last month.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel

A synagogue in the Allawah suburb of Sydney was vandalized with the painted words “Hitler on top” and swastikas early on Friday, Reuters reports.

New South Wales State Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said at a news conference, “The people who do the sort of thing should realize we will be out in force to look for them; we will catch them and prosecute them.”

“(There is) no place in Australia, our tolerant multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference.

The vandalism of the Sydney synagogue follows incidents of antisemitic graffiti on cars also in Sydney and an arson attack in Melbourne.

Following the Melbourne synagogue fire, Australia established a task force to deal with threats of violence and antisemitic incidents directed at the country’s Jewish community.

On Monday, an antisemitic slogan was found spray-painted on a car in the Queens Park neighborhood of eastern Sydney.

The offensive phrase, “F*** the Jews,” was scrawled in large black letters on the side of a white car.

While Queens Park is known for its significant Jewish community, the car’s owner, Stuart Veron, is not Jewish.

Veron described the vandalism as “madness” and “disgusting,” calling the perpetrator a “rat” and noting he felt “unlucky” his car had been targeted, according to ABC News.

“My neighbors—they’d be disgusted. There’s no place for this in this community or anywhere in Australia,” he said.

In December, worshippers fled in the early hours as flames engulfed the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.

Witnesses told Sky News Australia that they saw masked men pouring petrol on the building before setting it on fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, must be seen in the context of the anti-Israeli policies of Australia’s Labor government.

“The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an appalling act of antisemitism. I expect state authorities to take decisive action to prevent such acts from occurring again,” Netanyahu said.

“Sadly, this deplorable act cannot be viewed in isolation from the Labor government’s extreme anti-Israeli stance in Australia,” he added.

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New York synagogue vandalized with pro-Palestinian graffiti amid ongoing wave of anti-Israel demonstrations.

By World Israel News Staff

A Conservative New York synagogue was targeted by anti-Israel vandals sometime last week, following a spate of other incidents of vandalism by pro-Hamas elements.

On Friday afternoon, officials from the Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan found that an exterior wall of the house of worship had been vandalized.

The word “Palestine” was graffitied underneath the biblical verse “How great are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel,” with “Palestine” added directly underneath the word “Israel.”

‘Palestine’ scrawled on exterior wall of Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan. (Twitter/X)

Synagogue officials quickly had the graffiti removed, restoring the wall in time for Friday evening Sabbath services.

New York City Police were notified of the incident and an investigation opened. No arrest have been made thus far, the NYPD said.

New York City Councilmember Julie Menin denounced the vandalism as a “vile antisemitic act.”

“Today Park Avenue Synagogue was vandalized,” Menin tweeted. “As a former member of this congregation, I am disgusted by this vile antisemitic act. A house of worship is a sanctuary. Defacing it is an attack on all of us.”

Days earlier, pro-Hamas vandals smeared red paint on buildings across the city, including the home of the Brooklyn Museum’s Jewish director.

The city has also witnessed a growing number of raucous protests targeting Jewish venues.

Last Monday, hundreds of pro-Hamas demonstrators rallied outside of Nova Exhibition, held on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, waving flags of the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups.

While police have worked to identify and arrest violent protesters and vandals, the increasing use of masks and other face coverings by agitators has made it difficult for law enforcement to crackdown on lawbreakers.

This has prompted some Jewish groups to push for the reinstatement of the pre-COVID era ban on face masks in public.

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul: ‘Threats have been determined not to be credible, but we will not tolerate individuals sowing fear and antisemitism.’

By JNS

At least 20 synagogues were targeted by bomb threats over Shabbat, according to a New York State representative.

At least four of the targeted Jewish houses of worship are in Alex Bores’s district, the assemblymember wrote.

“I’ve spoken with rabbis and the police; they have investigated the specific threats and found them to be not credible,” Bores wrote. “Antisemitism is unacceptable, and the perpetrators should be prosecuted.”

On Saturday evening, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote that the state is “actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York.”

“Threats have been determined not to be credible, but we will not tolerate individuals sowing fear and antisemitism,” she wrote. “Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions.”

Several other city and state lawmakers commented on the threats.

Rebecca Seawright, another New York state representative, called them “disgraceful.”

“There is zero tolerance for antisemitism and those responsible must be held accountable,” she wrote. “We must keep our community safe for all New Yorkers.”

Mark Treyger, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, noted that the threats came on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“Not normal. Not peaceful. Not lawful,” he wrote.

Keith Powers, a member of the New York City Council, wrote that the threats thankfully “don’t seem credible at this point in time.”

“But it’s a clear attack on the Jewish community here in New York City,” he added. “Unacceptable and reprehensible.”

“This is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community,” wrote Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, adding that this “cannot be accepted.”

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The synagogue vandalism occurred a week after two suspicious packages were sent to Jewish organizations.

By World Israel News Staff

A Seattle synagogue, Herzl Ner-Tamid, was vandalized with abusive graffiti on Wednesday morning, according to The Seattle Times.

The Mercer Island synagogue, home to the oldest conservative Jewish congregation in the area, was spray-painted with the words “Shame on Israel,” and “Stop the Killing,” presumably referring to the current war between Israel and Hamas.

According to Seattle police, the FBI is currently investigating the crime. So far, there have been no credible threats of violence.

However, The synagogue vandalism occurred a week after two suspicious packages were sent to Mercer Jewish organizations.

Congregation Herzl Ner-Tamid posted on its Facebook page, “Despite this adversity, our commitment to leading fulfilled, connected Jewish lives remains steadfast. Thank you for standing strong with us. We would like to take a moment to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.”

Democratic Representative Adam Smith from Washington State’s 9th District vigorously criticized the attack on X.

He posted, “The vandalism at Herzl-Ner Tamid is horrifying and heartbreaking. I condemn this atrocity and stand with the Jewish community in the Ninth District and across the country. Our Jewish friends deserve to feel safe–especially at their places of worship.

The vandalism of the Seattle synagogue is one of many similar incidents; there is a 400% rise in antisemitic incidents since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.

The vacation home in Michigan of former Chicago Mayor and Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel was spraypainted with the word “Nazis.”

In addition, a woman in LA was charged with hate crimes after ramming her car through the gate of a local synagogue.

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After burning down the el-Hamma Synagogue, rioters vandalized the ruins.

By The Algemeiner

Hundreds of Tunisians reportedly burnt the el-Hamma Synagogue on Tuesday evening, according to videos and images posted on TikTok and X/Twitter. In the initial videos, no police or emergency services are seen responding to the incident.

The synagogue, located in the Gabès Governorate, does not function as a place of worship since there is currently no Jewish community that lives in the town of el-Hamma, according to The Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life.

Videos posted the morning after show much of the synagogue complex burnt, with Arabic graffiti sprayed on the walls of synagogue rooms which remained intact.

The synagogue attack came hours after false media reports claimed that the Israel Defense Forces had bombed the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.

US and Israeli officials, along with independent intelligence analysts, have all concluded that the blast was due to an errant rocket launched by the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.

As of this writing, the Tunisia synagogue attack has not yet been reported by Tunisian or international media.

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Armenian militant group says Jews, Israelis are ‘sworn enemies,’ pledge to ramp up attacks on synagogue due to alleged Israeli support of Azerbaijan in ongoing conflict.

By World Israel News Staff

A synagogue in Armenia was vandalized by unknown perpetrators on Tuesday, with those responsible for damaging the site framing the destruction as an act of revenge against Israel for supplying Azerbaijan with military equipment.

Pictures and videos on social media showed masked men smearing red paint the façade of the Mordechay Navi Jewish Religious Center in Yerevan, the country’s only synagogue.

Footage circulating on media: Vandalism & desecration of a synagogue in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. pic.twitter.com/CzhAsL8N2F

— Adam Albilya – אדם אלביליה (@AdamAlbilya) October 3, 2023

Hours later, members of two Armenian militant groups released statements on the Telegram messaging app, taking credit for the vandalism and warning that they would escalate their attacks on synagogues, should the Israeli government allegedly continue supporting Azerbaijan.

“The Jews are the enemies of the Armenian nation, complicit in Turkish crimes and the regime of Aliyev, stained with the blood of the Republic of Armenia,” read one text circulating on the platform.

“The Jewish State provides weapons to Aliyev’s criminal regime, and Jews from America and Europe actively support him. Turkey, Aliyev’s regime, and the Jews are the sworn enemies of the Armenian state and people,” the post continued.

“If Jewish rabbis in the United States and Europe continue to support Aliyev’s regime, we will continue to burn their synagogues in other countries. Every rabbi will be a target for us. No Israeli Jew will feel safe in these countries.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been embroiled in a longstanding conflict regarding Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan that is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians.

Several years ago, the region declared itself a breakaway republic, sparking an offensive by the Azeri army to regain control over the territory.

Azerbaijan is a close ally of Israel, and one of the largest buyers of Israeli arms and military technology.

“The vandalism of the World Jewish Center in Armenia is distressing,” Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said in a media statement following news of the desecration of the synagogue.

The rabbi stressed that “the Jewish community in Armenia is not a party to the conflict” regarding the disputed region.

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“The irresponsible decision of the mayor of Barcelona to unilaterally sever relations with the State of Israel has put the Jewish community in the city in real danger.”

By JNS

Vandals defaced a Jewish house of worship in Barcelona on Wednesday, in the second such incident in the city in less than 10 days.

Graffiti reading “Why do you kill in Palestine” was spray-painted outside a Chabad synagogue in the city.

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain condemned the act, saying in a statement that “attacking places of worship of Jewish men and women in Barcelona is a clear demonstration of antisemitism.”

The incident came nine days after the Great Synagogue of Barcelona was defaced with graffiti reading, “Free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, blamed that desecration on Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau’s decision to sever the city’s twinning agreement with Tel Aviv.

“The irresponsible decision of the mayor of Barcelona to unilaterally sever relations with the State of Israel has put the Jewish community in the city in real danger,” said Goldschmidt. “Every additional case of vandalism and bloodshed as a result of this unfortunate choice will be on her hands.”

The Lawfare Project announced last week the filing of the lawsuit against Colau, on behalf of the Barcelona Institute for Dialogue with Israel.

“It asserts that Ms. Colau acted beyond the scope of her authority by infringing on the Spanish government’s power to conduct foreign policy and violated applicable legal procedures,” the U.S.-based legal fund, which protects Jewish and Israeli civil and human rights, said in a statement.

Colau cited “repeated violations of human rights of the Palestinian population and noncompliance with United Nations resolutions” in justifying the decision to boycott the Jewish state, which ended a 24-year friendship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is currently on a diplomatic visit to Madrid.

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The Chabad House in Cape Coral, Florida was vandalized after Saturday morning prayers by a brick-wielding assailant.

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A 33-year-old woman is accused of breaking into the Congregation Emanu El twice in recent weeks and causing serious damage.

The post WATCH: Woman vandalizes Houston synagogue, frightens pre-schoolers appeared first on World Israel News.

“This series of anti-Semitic incidents targeting synagogues is extremely disturbing and a reminder of the growing hatred against the Jewish community that we are witnessing across the country.”

By JNS

Police in Ontario, Canada are investigating several instances of anti-Semitic vandalism that occurred during the recent Jewish holiday season.

On Oct. 12, hate messages were found scrawled on Beth Jacob Congregation of Kitchener-Waterloo, including one that said “ZOG is the real racial supremacists 1488 Hitler did nothing wrong!”

White supremacists use ZOG as shorthand for “Zionist occupied government,” while 1488 is a reference to a 14-word slogan on white supremacy and 88 is code for “Heil Hitler” as “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

On its website, officials with Beth Jacob said the messages were found during Sukkot and are “particularly threatening and serious…Given the dramatic increase in violent anti-Semitic incidents in Canada and worldwide, this incident is being treated with the utmost seriousness.”

Anti-Semitic hate was also discovered on a synagogue in the town of Guelph less than 20 miles away.

There, video surveillance showed a man walking up to the Beth Isaiah Synagogue on Oct. 5 and placing stickers on the building, including ones with an image of Hitler. The man was also seen using his cellphone to take photos of himself with the stickers in a case that local police are calling a hate crime.

According to the Guelph Police Service, the man was wearing a dark jacket with a hood pulled up over his head, black pants, black boots, black gloves, a dark-colored backpack and a ski mask over his face. “The Guelph Police Service will not tolerate hate-motivated acts and will fully investigate every such reported incident,” the service said.

Michael Levitt, president and CEO of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, said, “This series of anti-Semitic incidents targeting synagogues in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph area is extremely disturbing and a reminder of the growing hatred against the Jewish community that we are witnessing across the country.

“As online anti-Semitism is surging, the real-world consequences in our communities are growing more dire,” he continued in a statement. “Nobody should have to fear going to a place of worship or feel threatened. We are hopeful police will find the perpetrator(s) and send a strong message that such acts of hate are not welcome and will be met with consequences.”

The timing of the incidents was “particularly disturbing,” given that they happened during the holiday season, Noah Shack, vice president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said on Twitter.

“There should be no place for hate in Canada, and the Jewish community across Canada stands with the Jewish communities of Kitchener and Guelph,” he said.

In addition, swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were found spray-painted on a building under construction in Guelph’s Riverside Park on Oct. 15, and on Monday, anti-black graffiti was discovered spray-painted on a church on Speedvale Avenue East in the city. In both instances, red spray paint was used, and the hate messages were quickly removed by officials.

The Guelph Police Service, which is investigating the cases in its region, said in a statement that it “will not tolerate acts of hate-motivated crime and will fully investigate any such occurrences.”

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Swastikas were found etched into the walls of Congregation Sanz.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Police have arrested a part-time worker in a Monsey synagogue and charged him with a hate crime a week after he allegedly vandalized the property, leading to praise from Jewish leaders for their quick work.

The Ramapo authorities are charging 32-year-old Rolando DeJesus Gomez-Velazquez, of Hillcrest, NY, with criminal mischief as a hate crime and aggravated harassment for drawing several swastikas on both interior and exterior walls of Congregation Sanz. He also allegedly cut up coats hanging in the synagogue and did some other minor damage.

Even though there was no physical attack, “it’s still a serious development” when such antisemitic acts occur, Yossi Gestetner of the Rockland County-based Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council told Long Island’s News12.

He was therefore relieved that the incident was taken seriously by the police.

“It’s encouraging when law enforcement steps in, steps up, and gets it done right away,” he said, pointing out that the media and officials had spoken out about the crime, “which impacts how government responds.”

The vandalism was discovered on June 17, a Friday, and reported on Sunday. By June 25, the police nabbed their suspect.

Velazquez was taken to court and released with an order to appear in court for the case to be heard at a later date. If convicted, he could spend up to four years in jail.

In December 2019, Monsey Jews suffered their most serious attack when a mentally unstable man broke into a local rabbi’s home during a Chanukah party and hacked five Orthodox men with a machete. One of the victims, 72-year-old Josef Neumann, died of his wounds some two months later.

Grafton Thomas was arrested for that attack, but a Rockland County court found him incompetent to stand trial and confined him to a mental health facility.

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