Edmonton synagogues receive anti-Semitic mail; Toronto, Montreal also targeted

Police investigating after hate mail sent The EPS Hate Crimes Unit is investigating after anti-Semitic letters were delivered across Canada. CTV Edmonton’s Dan Grummett reports.

Two synagogues in Edmonton are among a number across Canada to have received anti-Semitic letters in recent days and police in each jurisdiction are investigating.

The letters, calling for the death of Jews, contain an image of a swastika over a bleeding Star of David, were delivered in the mail to the Temple Beth Ora Synagogue in Oliver, and the Beth Israel Synagogue in West Edmonton.

The same letters were delivered to four synagogues in Toronto, and at least two in Montreal. Hamilton and Kingston-based synagogues also received the same posters.

Edmonton police said investigators are working with officers in other impacted cities on these cases.

The Jewish Federation of Edmonton (JFE) called the letters unfortunate, but not shocking.

“It’s a sad reality of life in Canada,” said JFE President, Steve Shafir.

According to Statistics Canada, Judaism was the highest targeted religion for police-reported hate crimes in the country in 2016. Shafir said incidents usually coincide on or around Jewish holidays.

In a statement posted online, Temple Beth Ora President J. Spencer Brawner responded to “the person that left a hate-filled note for us”:

“We have withstood much more than your poster. We do not fear you, we will not allow your darkness to overcome our light. This is the meaning of our Hanukkah celebration, that we not only bring light forth to expose darkness, but we continue to do it day after day.”

In a further statement to CTV News, Brawner called on Canadians to “call out acts of hatred”, saying: “We must recognize that there are a significant number of people in our country who not only espouse but spread hateful and harmful ideology. We cannot turn a blind eye to this activity, but we must recognize it and remind all Canadians that it is our duty to counter hatred when we hear it and see it and in turn build a more just society.”

Premier Rachel Notley also released a statement following news of the hate mail, condemning the “cowardly acts of hate in the strongest possible terms.”

“Equality is a value Albertans cherish, which makes our province a place of home and opportunity for all. No act of hate will ever change that.”

Meanwhile, local Rabbis preparing for the eighth night of Hanukkah said they are not fazed by the hate mail.

“It does not affect our activities,” Rabbi Dovid Pinson said.

“They lit the menorah in Auschwitz, they lit the menorah in the Gulag, this is not going to stop us,” Rabbi Ari Drelich said.

With files from Dan Grummett