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Harold Davis |
Frank Dimant |
Allan Adel |
Ruth Klein |
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Harold Davis |
Frank Dimant |
Allan Adel |
Ruth Klein |
The figures contained in this year’s Audit clearly illustrate a growing trend of hate targeting the Jewish community of Canada. These findings are supported by trends elsewhere, as can be seen in the findings of Canadian police forces, the results of a major study in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and reports by Jewish community organizations in such countries as the United Kingdom and Australia.
The York Regional Police, in its newly released study Policing in a Multicultural Community, reported a total of 105 hate crimes in 2004, compared to 92 in the previous year. This police force operates in an area just north of Toronto which is one of the most diverse communities in Canada. As noted in the study, 18.5% of the residents belong to 50 diverse ethnic groups and there are 277 places of worship and 71 different languages spoken. There is a large and vibrant Jewish population in the region as well. The Hate Crime Unit, recently renamed the Diversity and Cultural Resources Bureau, not only monitors hate crimes, but also liaises and networks to enhance community-police partnerships. One would have hoped that the strong multicultural flavour of the region would evidence itself in greater tolerance.
However, 72 (68.6%) of the 105 hate crimes reported by York Regional Police impacted the Jewish community, which was by far the most targeted group in the region. The next most targeted group was the Black community with 12 incidents, while the Muslim community was targeted in three cases.
At time of publication of the Audit, the Hate Crime Unit of the Toronto Police had not yet released its annual findings, but it is expected that it will be reporting an increase from the year before, with the Jewish community as the most targeted group.
The Pilot Survey of Hate Crime by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, released in 2004, which compiled and analyzed the records of 12 Canadian police forces from 2001 and 2002, found that 25% of the 928 hate crimes reported by the participating forces were antisemitic in nature, making Jewish people the largest single group targeted. The study found that Jews were the most likely group to be targeted by a hate crime in the 12 jurisdictions that participated in the study.
Turning to our neighbours to the South, the United States is also reporting increases in antisemitism. In November 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released its Annual Report on Hate Crime Statistics, which covered data collected in 2003 under the mandate of the 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA). Of the 7,489 hate crimes in 2003, the report documented 1,343 crimes based on religion. Of these, 927 (68.8%) were directed against Jews and Jewish institutions, while 149 (11.5%) were directed against Muslims. This latter number has declined sharply since a spike post 9/11, to levels more commonly seen in the years preceding the September 11 attacks. However, the Jewish community continues to be the most targeted group. In fact, crimes against Jews accounted for 12% of the total number of hate crimes in all categories according to the FBI Report.
The Report on Global Anti-Semitism submitted by the U.S. Department of State to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on International Relations, confirms a global trend to increasing antisemitism throughout the world. This includes increases in both the number and severity of the incidents in several Western democracies that are often compared to Canada. The World Survey published annually by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, to which the League contributes the chapter on Canada, also supports these findings.
These reports complement a study issued in 2003 by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). This study noted that much of the antisemitism in Europe is due to an increasingly radicalized anti-globalist movement which has joined forces with Marxist, anti-American, and anarchist elements to vilify the Jews as the root of all the world’s problems. So disturbing were the EU’s findings that its Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia allegedly shelved the report when it found that Muslims and pro-Palestinian groups were implicated in many of the incidents, and that the impetus for such activity was to be found in tensions linked to the Middle East conflict.
The Community Security Trust (CST) of Great Britain, a group that monitors security for British Jewry, has reported 532 antisemitic incidents for 2004. This represents a 50% increase, which closely mirrors the League’s results for the same period in Canada. This figure is reported to represent the highest increase since the CST began recording incidents in 1984. It also reported that 83 violent assaults took place, compared with 54 in 2003, including four incidents that almost claimed the victims' lives. Many of the incidents were reported to be connected to heightened tensions in the Middle East.
In 2004, the total number of reports received by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry was 425. This represented a 44% increase above the annual average of 295 incidents. Reports suggested a trend towards less hate mail and telephone threats, but more incidents of physical assault and vandalism.