ANTI-SEMITISM IN CANADA AT 25 YEAR HIGH

Anti-Semitism in Canada at highest level in 25 years (JTA)
TORONTO (JTA) — Anti-Semitic activities in Canada have risen to their highest level in 25 years, according to a new report. B’nai Brith Canada’s 2006 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents indicates that 935 incidents were reported to the organization’s League of Human Rights last year. Almost two-thirds were categorized as harassment, one-third as vandalism, and about 3 percent as violence.

Incidents include physical assaults, threatening phone calls, Internet hate-mongering, synagogue vandalism, Holocaust denial and a school firebombing in Montreal. The overall number is about 13 percent higher than in 2005, double the tally of five years ago and four times higher than it was 10 years ago.

The incidents also are becoming more personally threatening, said Frank Dimant, B’nai Brith Canada’s executive vice president, who concludes that more members of Canada’s 375,000-strong Jewish community feel targeted than ever before. ...

Nearly half of the reported events occurred in Toronto, which is home to nearly half of the country’s Jews. Another 25 percent occurred in Montreal. But there were incidents in almost every Canadian region in 2006. ....

Reported incidents like these represent only about 10 percent of such activity, B’nai Brith officials contend. ...

According to the B’nai Brith statistics, the largest known group of perpetrators — who claimed responsibility for 56 incidents — were persons identifying themselves as being of Arab or Muslim descent.