The Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism released a comprehensive report on Tuesday highlighting a significant surge in antisemitic incidents in Canada since the October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023.
The report documents a 670 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in Canada compared to the same period last year. It also highlights that despite making up just 1.4 percent of the population, Jews have been the targets of 70 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes, with 19 percent of all hate crimes in Toronto in 2023 directed at them. Additionally, the report notes over 500 antisemitic incidents on university campuses, ranging from graffiti to violent occupations. It identifies specific individuals and organizations as major contributors to antisemitism in Canada, including pro-Palestinian group Samidoun which is now listed as a terror organization by Canada and the US.
The release of the report comes amid a global increase in antisemitic incidents since the beginning of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In May 2024, B’nai Brith Canada released its Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which reported a 111 percent increase in such incidents from 2022 to 2023, with 5,791 incidents documented. A rise in such incidents has been noted globally, with a November 2023 report finding that antisemitism incidents had more than quadrupled in Germany since October 7, 2023. Reports show a similar rise of such incidents in France and Belgium. US university campuses have also witnessed these tensions, prompting the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce to launch a formal investigation into whether educational institutions have adequately responded to the rise of antisemitism on their campuses in 2023.
