Winnipeg restaurant vandalized with hate message 2 days after synagogue vandalism

Winnipeg police are investigating after a synagogue and a Palestinian-owned restaurant were both hit with separate acts of hate-related vandalism last week.

A Palestinian-owned Middle Eastern restaurant near Polo Park in Winnipeg was vandalized and left with a hate message early Sunday morning.

This comes about two days after Congregation Shaarey Zedek was vandalized with graffiti, including a swastika symbol, early Friday morning.

In a social media post on Sunday, Habibiz Café said at 4:50 a.m., a man “shatter(ed) our windows and our peace of mind.”

Photos of security camera footage showing the masked man and the message left at the restaurant were attached with the post.

“Everything since yesterday has been — it’s overwhelming. The amount of stress, the amount of the staff that are scared, my parents are scared,” Ali Zeid, owner of the restaurant, told CTV News on Monday.

“It’s something that we’ve never endured like this much. It’s a hate crime that happened to us (Sunday)… From the vandalism to the letter to everything that’s happening right now.”

Zeid’s restaurant serves Middle Eastern foods “all the way from Palestine to deep in the Middle East and from Canada.”

The restaurant’s customer base isn’t limited to Palestinians or Middle Easterners, Zeid said.

“Palestinians, Punjabis, Koreans, Asians — we have the Jewish community; everyone comes through these doors.”

CTV News reached out to the Winnipeg Police Service to confirm the police report. In an email, the force confirmed that a report of vandalism at a café in the 1300 block of Portage Avenue was made and the Major Crimes Unit is investigating.

Swastika graffiti on synagogue about 48 hours before

About two days before, Congregation Shaarey Zedek — a synagogue in Winnipeg — was vandalized with graffiti, including several swastika symbols on its front entrance and marble wall of its building.

The synagogue’s executive director, Rena Secter Elbaze, expressed frustration about the incident on Saturday.

“The synagogue is a place of peace and love, where we talk about loving your neighbour as yourself and caring for the poor and the widow and the orphan. And here we are — being targeted with hate,” Elbaze told CTV News.

In an email to CTV News on Saturday, Winnipeg police confirmed that they received a report of graffiti on a building in the 500 block of Wellington Crescent and said the Major Crimes Unit is investigating.

In an email obtained by CTV News, the synagogue sent a security update on Sunday, stating that police visited the building.

“We would like to reassure the congregation and community that we are taking all of the necessary steps to ensure your security and will communicate regularly as the investigation unfolds,” the email read. “We will continue to have security on site on Shabbat morning and for events.”

‘We aren’t going anywhere’

Zeid said the restaurant received an outpouring of support after the incident.

“Everything that we’ve seen in the last 24 hours from Winnipeg has been amazing. It makes us feel that we belong, makes us feel like we are here.”

Some of the messages asked the restaurant not to leave and said it belongs in the community, Zeid said.

“Just (on Sunday), we had two little boys come in separate times with their penny banks, offering it to us to fix our windows. That right there shows how Winnipeg comes together.

“No matter who you are or where you are from — Winnipeg respects Winnipeggers. A Manitoban respects a Manitoban.”

Elbaze said other communities reached out to her after Friday morning’s incident.

“I got a message from the interfaith community that people were shocked and very upset to hear that this had happened to us, and that was reassuring,” she said on Saturday. “Winnipeggers — we stand shoulder to shoulder. I grew up in this community. I’m a fourth-generation Manitoban, and I grew up with people from other communities. They reached out to me when they heard about it.”

Inspector Jennifer McKinnon with the police service’s Major Crimes Unit confirmed Monday that no arrests have been made in either of the investigations.

“At this time, we do not believe there is a connection between these two incidents,” she said during a news conference. “However, I am cautious, because it is still very early in the investigation.”

McKinnon said the police service is taking both incidents seriously.

“We are committed to working with our community partners and remain steadfast in denouncing those that participate in such hateful acts,” she said. “Hate motivated crimes have no place in our community.”

Calling all levels of government to step up

Advocates for the Muslim and Jewish communities are calling on all levels of government to step up.

“What we need to see is clear action from our elected officials at all levels of government. We need to see clear recognition of anti-Palestinian racism, in its intersections with Islamophobia,” said Sadaf Ahmad, government affairs and public policy officer for the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “And apart from it, we need to see better resources put toward hate crimes for our police authorities.”

Jeff Lieberman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, echoed the same message.

“Nobody should be targeted because of their religion – whether that’s the Jewish community or the Palestinian community or any other community. We all need to stand up against that,” he said. “Again, our politicians and our leaders need to be vocal and condemn it as much as they can.”

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