Toronto police have opened a hate-crime investigation into an alleged antisemitic incident in the heavily Jewish North York neighborhood around Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West, an area that has repeatedly been the scene of anti-Israel demonstrations and other troubling incidents targeting Jews.
The Toronto Police Service’s hate crimes unit is examining the episode after Jewish organizations denounced the conduct as “blatant antisemitism.”
Police on Monday shared a social media post from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which reported what it described as “antisemitic hate speech” in the vicinity of Bathurst and Sheppard. Authorities did not specify when the alleged incident took place.
CIJA said it is working together with B’nai Brith Canada and the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in seeking accountability over the incident.
“Week after week, for nearly three years, the Jewish community has been harassed and targeted at Bathurst and Sheppard, the heart of a Toronto Jewish neighbourhood,” CIJA said.
“And now, an individual … accusing Jews of using ‘black magic,’ raping, murdering, and eating children,” it said. CIJA released video that appeared to show a man directing those accusations against “Zionists.”
“This cannot be allowed to continue without consequences,” CIJA said.
Toronto police are asking anyone who witnessed the incident or has information that could assist the investigation to come forward.
The Bathurst and Sheppard area, home to a sizable Jewish community, has become a recurring location for anti-Israel demonstrations since Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel. Some of those demonstrations have included violent anti-Israel rhetoric and chants.
In November 2024, demonstrators were captured on video reenacting the final moments of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the architects of the October 7 attack.
Police launched a separate investigation this past March following reports that antisemitic imagery had been displayed during a protest near Bathurst and Sheppard. Days afterward, authorities announced that demonstrators would no longer be allowed to protest on residential streets in the neighborhood because of “increased volatility and heightened fear” among local residents.
The new investigation comes against the backdrop of a significant rise in reported antisemitic incidents throughout the Toronto region since the October 7 massacre.
In March, shots were fired at Temple Emanu-El in North York while congregants were inside celebrating Purim. No one was injured, but the shul sustained damage.
Just days later, two additional Jewish houses of worship — Beth Avraham Yoseph in Vaughan and Shaarei Shomayim in Toronto — were targeted in separate gun-related incidents that occurred only hours apart. Three suspects have since been charged in connection with the shootings.
In April, a man allegedly tried to force his way into a shul in Thornhill, north of Toronto, and assaulted an individual before fleeing the scene.
One day later, someone hurled a rock through the window of a Toronto Judaica store, marking the third reported attack against the business.
Last month, two branches of a Jewish-owned bakery in Toronto were targeted in attacks that occurred approximately an hour apart.
The latest episode also comes shortly after police arrested a 35-year-old Toronto man accused of breaking into a North York shul and stealing religious items.
Police said the suspect entered the shul, located near Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue, during the early morning hours of August 18 and allegedly removed several religious articles. The following day, officers carried out a search warrant at a nearby residence and recovered the stolen property.
The man was charged with break and enter as well as failure to comply with a release order. He was scheduled to appear in a Toronto courtroom on August 20.
{matzav.com}
