Anti-Semitic incidents in Canada hit record high in 2007

Anti-Semitic incidents in Canada hit record high in 2007, Ha'aretz, 03/06/2008
By Rhonda Spivak

WINNIPEG - Anti-Semitic incidents in Canada hit a record high in 2007, according to a recently released report by the League of Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada.

The group recorded 1,042 anti-Semitic incidents in Canada in 2007, up 11.4% since 2006. A 59.1% increase was noted on Canadian college and university campuses.

In Montreal, anti-Semitic incidents increased 16 percent from 2006 to 2007, and regional Quebec showed a significant increase of 282 percent from the previous year.
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The study also showed that over the past 10 years anti-Semitic incidents have jumped 400 percent in Canada.

Nearly 30 percent of all incidents in 2007 were attributed to internet activity. Of these, nearly one-third involved threatening or harassing communications.

Synagogues were targeted in 22 incidents, in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Richmond British Columbia, Hamilton and Barrie, Ontario. There were 28 incidents of violence in 2007, down from 30 in 2006. Incidents of harassment were up from 588 in 2006 to 699 in 2007.

"The 2007 findings indicate that anti-Semitism is not just at the fringes of Canadian society," Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of B'nai Brith Canada said in a news release. He also noted that incidents are no longer "primarily confined to urban centers."