Canada-wide incidents of vandalism, violence and harassment targeting the Jewish community dropped by 5.3 per cent in 2013 compared to the year before, according to the Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, published by the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada.
Altogether 1,274 cases were recorded by the League. While harassment dropped by 13.9 per cent in 2013 from 2012, incidents of vandalism and violence increased by 21.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively.
The League speculated that reporting of harassment may be down because of feared social repercussions and retaliation in the workforce, plus the reluctance of law enforcement to “resolve complaints.”
The overall trend over 10 years showed a 49 per cent increase in the level of anti-Semitism in Canada, said Frank Dimant, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada.
“Although the numbers for this year are down slightly, hatred of Jews has veered so far into normative discourse that it is no longer seen as wrong,” said Dimant.
Anti-Semitic imagery and harassment is especially prevalent on Canadian campuses, he added.
“The de facto replacement of ‘The Jew’ with Israel, combined with the constant barrage of Holocaust imagery in relation to the Jewish state and Jews and its supporters, create a visceral sense of apprehension,” Dimant said.
