TORONTO — Hate crimes targeting the Jewish community in York Region more than doubled in 2010 over 2009, York Regional Police reported last week.

Len Rudner

With a total of 41 incidents reported, Jews were the single most victimized group, making up 39 per cent of the 104 crimes tallied by police, police data indicate. Blacks were the next most targeted group, with 17 incidents reported, down from 20 the year before. Catholics were the victims in two incidents and Muslims in three.

The findings were part of a report on overall crime statistics, which dropped by 1.1 per cent in 2010.

Referring to hate crime occurrences, Det. Brett Kemp, head of York Regional Police’s hate crimes unit, said, “The vast majority of the cases we have seen were mischief-related property crimes.”

After conducting a preliminary examination of  the crime data, Kemp said “I’ve been unable to find any violent offences that targeted the Jewish community.”

The 2010 findings of crimes against Jews were the highest in five years. In 2007, 24 incidents were reported to police; in 2008 that rose to 27 and in 2009 the number dropped to 19, before jumping again last year.

Kemp believes the spike in incidents in 2010 corresponded to world events and other high profile developments. “There were recurring events like Israeli Apartheid Week, the Gaza aid ship incident and then, surprisingly, the municipal election caused some occurrences,” he said.

Kemp said swastikas were employed against candidates during the campaign and “the swastika is a world known symbol of hate.” Though the perpetrators’ motives were unknown, police assumed an anti-Jewish intent, he said.

Len Rudner, Ontario regional director of Canadian Jewish Congress, cautioned the community to “not necessarily set its heartbeat by any set of statistics….The numbers should not be seen as a determination of how safe it is to be Jewish in York Region. We keep statistics of hate crimes but not of the good acts and the positive things that happen between communities.

“Are there people with a dislike of Jews in Canada? Yes there are,” he said. “There have always been.

“Are there more than before? The statistics don’t tell us that, only that in a particular year there were more events reported, collected and categorized by police.”

Kemp said the occurrences “were widespread across the region” and while most perpetrators were not apprehended, “I can’t say there was any pattern…Since the vast majority of cases were mischief-related, it’s not unfair to say it’s youth doing it, who don’t understand the impact of hate messages.”

Police try to deter criminal incidents during periods of tension by patrolling around Jewish institutions and making their presence known, Kemp added.

Rudner noted that the federal government had made permanent the Security Infrastructure Program, which enhances the security infrastructure of communities targeted by hate-motivated crime.

“But we should not allow our comfort in being citizens of Canada and residents of York Region to be affected by a single number,” he said.