VANCOUVER (CP) – The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver says an “incendiary device” was thrown at the front doors of a synagogue and police are investigating.
The incident, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a “disgusting act of antisemitism,” left a front door and doorway of the Schara Tzedeck synagogue on Vancouver’s Oak Street blackened.
There was a strong smell of burning inside, but the charring did not appear to have made it far under the doorway.
The federation said in a statement posted online that the attack occurred around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, and that damage was minor and no one was hurt.
It called the incident a “deliberate act of hate” and an “attempt to intimidate” the Jewish community.
Trudeau said on social media platform X: “A synagogue in Vancouver was attacked last night in another disgusting act of antisemitism. We cannot let this hate or these acts of violence stand. This is not the Canada we want to be.”
Canada’s special envoy for combating antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, called it “horrible news” and said on social media that “incendiary rhetoric leads to incendiary violence.”
The Jewish federation said the Vancouver Police Department and a fire inspector searched the building before declaring it safe to be reopened.
Vancouver police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a police car and officers were outside the synagogue on Friday morning.
The federation said extra police patrols were being put in place at local Jewish institutions.
The incident comes after bullet holes were found at two Jewish schools in Montreal and Toronto in recent days.
Lyons said on social media that it is “past time to stand up” against the incidents.
“Three Jewish institutions in three major cities this week have been attacked, and more over the months since Hamas’s horrific massacre on Oct. 7. There is no excuse for silence or inaction,” she said.
She said the law must be enforced and “incidents of hate” could not go unanswered.
“It means that incitement and violent rhetoric must be met with consequences. It means that capitulation to unreasonable or threatening demands must end.”
The alleged Vancouver attack comes after incidents at a building housing a Jewish school and synagogue in Montreal, and at a Toronto Jewish girls school. Nobody was hurt in either incident.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, an outspoken voice against antisemitism, called on his party to change the Criminal Code in response to the rash of violent incidents targeting Jewish gathering places.
“At this point, condemnation is not enough,” Housefather said in a speech to the House of Commons Friday, citing the incidents in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
“All levels of government need to do more, immediately.”
He suggested creating safe zones around schools and places of worship where protests are not allowed, just as the government did for hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The idea was also floated in Toronto months ago by a local city councillor.
He also called for the group Samidoun and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran’s military, to be labelled as terrorist groups.
The foreign affairs minister has asked Public Safety Canada to explore the possibility of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, but Trudeau raised concerns it would punish Canadians who were drafted into Iran’s military by force.
Housefather’s comments were met with a standing ovation in the House.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement saying it was “appalled by last night’s violent attack against a Vancouver synagogue.”
“This marks the third such incident in the past six days in Canada, following shootings at Jewish schools in Toronto and Montreal. This comes as the country continues to experience surging anti-Jewish incidents since the Hamas atrocities in Israel last October.”
