As their holiday ended, Jewish residents in North York were met Sunday with swastikas scrawled on the sidewalk at the corner of Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave.
While they have gotten used to such vile antisemitism, which includes daily pro-Palestinian protests and the shooting of a Jewish elementary school twice, routinely seeing swastikas in neighbourhoods is not something one gets used to.
“But it keeps happening. The hate we are seeing in our city — whether it’s graffiti, online, in the public domain, vandalism, arson and weapons discharge — is the result of the hateful protests and rallies we have seen on our streets over the past year,” said Councillor James Pasternak. “These hateful gatherings, with little to no consequences, incite others to act out these views in other forums.”
And the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) also posted: “Toronto’s Jewish community has had enough” with this “increasingly hostile climate,” while calling for Mayor Olivia Chow to act.
Whether it’s graffiti, protests by masked participants or violence directed at the Jewish community, Toronto Police officers are busy with daily issues that have the potential to blow into serious trouble.
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Drawing a swastika on a sidewalk is a form an intimidation — as was a group of pro-Palestinian protesters coming up into this area Sunday. Later, the group supporting the Gaza side of the conflict went down to the U.S. consulate to mourn the Oct. 16 death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel.
One of those on hand was CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn, who, while wearing a black-and-white, Yassir Arafat-style Palestinian keffiyeh around his neck, called for the arrest of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. He also boasted CUPE was conducting “member to member” education counselling to help them better understand the history of the region.
CUPE has not yet responded to what that “education” entails or how it pertains to Ontario labour. But one thing Hahn leaves out of his activism is the fact that more than 1,200 people were slaughtered at the hands of Hamas. He also failed to mention 250 hostages were taken and that Hamas is a banned terror organization, while Israel is Canada’s ally.
While leaders like Hahn or Chow did not call out somebody spraying a swastika on a sidewalk in a Jewish neighbourhood, Toronto Police understand the pain this symbol caused and removed it before weekly pro-Israel supporters arrived.
But not before they started the investigation to determine who put it there?
“The mischief investigation is ongoing,” Const. Cindy Chung told The Toronto Sun.
This includes securing security camera footage.
It’s always complicated when it comes to prosecuting hate crimes, but there are laws on the books that cover such a crime as painting a swastika.
It’s lengthy, tedious legal language, but I am including it here:
Public incitement of hatred under Section (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada says a person, “who, by communicating statements in any public place, incites hatred against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or an offence punishable on summary conviction.”
Also under “Wilful promotion of hatred,” the Criminal Code states: “Everyone who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, wilfully promotes hatred against any identifiable group is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or an offence punishable on summary conviction.” The wilful promotion of antisemitism can also mean, “everyone who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, wilfully promotes antisemitism by condoning, denying or downplaying the Holocaust is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.”
So, the police have the laws to work with. Deputy Chief Rob Johnson said officers took pictures of the swastika, and employed other investigative measures before cleaning it up.
While Chow has not commented, Pasternak was clear in his words: “We will not be intimidated by the hateful mob who came to provoke us today at Bathurst and Sheppard,” the councillor posted on X, adding in a different tweet that he commended Toronto Police officers for their great work over the high holidays.
It’s more difficult when it comes to somebody allegedly using antisemitic slurs.
For example, there’s video of a man using terrible language outside of an auto repair shop last month. While a man is heard saying, “I said Hitler should have wiped every f****** one of you off the planet,” police, upon consultation with the Crown, have deemed this more of a “heated” moment than a hate crime. No charges are pending.
There is a distinction in law of somebody’s opinion as opposed to drawing a symbol of hate like a swastika, which could result in criminal charges.