Friends ofSimon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) Extremely Concerned AboutRecent Hate Crimes Report by Toronto Police Services

March20, 2017 – Toronto: Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies(FSWC) is extremely concerned about the findings of a recent hate crimes reportreleased by Toronto Police Services.

Toronto’sJewish community was predominantly targeted at a higher rate than any othergroup in 2016, with 43 occurrences, followed by the LGBTQ community with 24occurrences, and the Black and the Muslim communities reporting 22 occurrenceseach. The Jewish community accounted for 30 percent of reported attacks despite the Jewish Community making up a mere 3.8 percent of the City of Toronto’s religious population.

“Weare appalled by the 2016 hate crimes report, and want to emphasize that thesestatistics only reflect the hate crimes that were actually reported againstJewish community members. It is important for victims of hate crimes to reportthese occurrences to the police, as many crimes are not accounted for in thesereports,” said FSWC President & CEO AviBenlolo.

Asalways, FSWC seeks to promote tolerance and safety for all Canadians. TheCenter has reached out to all Canadian Jewish Community Centers that have beenthe targets of violent threats over the past month to offer its condolences and support. To read the police report in its entirety, seehere.

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Media Contact

Atara Cadesky 

Communications Associate  

416.864.9735 x 30 / acadesky@fswc.ca

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Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is a leadingCanadian non-profit human rights foundation directly representing over30,000 members. FSWC is committed to countering racism and antisemitism and topromoting the principles of tolerance, social justice and Canadiandemocratic values through advocacy and educational programs includingworkshops, Freedom Day, the Spirit of Hope Benefit, Tools for Tolerance and thewidely acclaimed new Tour for Humanity. FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, aninternational Jewish human rights organization headquartered in LosAngeles, which has won two Academy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance(with a third being built in Jerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations,UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Latin AmericanParliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca

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