Community Intelligence Brief: September 1, 2021

September 1, 2021

Intelligence Brief

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Michael Levitt, president and CEO of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, handing a festive lunch to a senior resident, residents dancing outside building during outdoor concert

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center Co-Sponsors Rosh Hashanah Program for Senior Residents

Today, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center joined UJA Federation and Bernard Betel Centre in sponsoring a special Rosh Hashanah program for senior residents of Schwartz Reisman Senior Living, many of whom are Holocaust survivors. The program included a festive lunch with special holiday challahs and honey, delivered to the residents by community volunteers, and an outdoor concert where musicians performed songs in English, Yiddish and Russian. Some residents safely stayed on their balconies while others danced outside the building as they enjoyed the entertainment in celebration of the upcoming Jewish New Year.

Edmonton Facility with Nazi Statue Received Government Funding to Reduce ‘Hate Motivated Crime’

“Obviously someone at the granting institution did not do their homework," said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, the director of policy with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center. "The public should not be subsidizing the cost of securing a Nazi monument. Canada fought a World War to defeat the Nazis and not surprisingly this inspires a lot of anger in Canadians. Vandalism is not the correct way to handle that anger but there is no universe where the cost of maintaining this Nazi monument should be on the shoulders of the taxpayer. I would say Public Safety has some explaining to do here.”

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'Completely Inappropriate': Montreal Hospital Demands Lab Tech Remove Nazi-Filled Social Media Posts

The McGill University Health Centre, which runs the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, denounced the lab technician's Facebook posts in which she compared Quebec's pandemic response to Nazi Germany and demanded the removal of the posts. In an online post, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center stated that "such comparisons are extremely hateful and offensive to the Jewish community and others who suffered horrific atrocities committed by the Nazi regime."

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Antisemitism: Jews Target of 58% of All Religiously Motivated Hate Crimes in US

Jews in America are the target of 58% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the US despite constituting a mere 2% of the population, newly released FBI statistics for 2020 have shown.

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Alleged Hate Crimes Rarely Investigated by Police, Report Claims

Nearly a quarter million Canadians say they were victims of hate-motivated incidents during a single year, but police across the country investigated fewer than one per cent of these events as hate crimes, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

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Thousands Attend Funeral of Slain Israel Border Police Officer

Barel Shmueli, 21, succumbed to his wounds nine day after being shot by a Palestinian rioter while guarding the Gaza border. Thousands attended the funeral at the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv on Monday evening.

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Report Antisemitism and News of Concern to FSWC

If you would like to report antisemitism or news of concern to Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, please email jaime@fswc.ca.