Antisemitic symbols spray painted on a Montreal synagogue over the weekend have been erased.
Multiple black swastikas spray painted on the doors and windows of the Bagg Street Shul were removed early Wednesday morning by the group Erasing Hate.
“This is a cowardly act that is done in the middle of the night to neighborhoods and we are not going to let that happen anymore. The hate goes up and within hours the hate goes down,” founder Corey Fleischer said.
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Michael Kaplan, president and director of the synagogue, says this is the first blatant racist act that he has experienced, downplaying the significance of the vandalism.
“I interpret the recent incident of the last couple of days as being nothing more than an expression of sleazeballness – some halfwit with a spray can,” Kaplan said.
“I have no reason to think other than positively about the people around this building.”
“The relationship between the synagogue and its neighbors has been nothing but cordial and warm in all the years I’ve been associated,” Kaplan said.
Horrifying and unacceptable. This synagogue is part of the history of Jewish Montreal. This act deserves universal condemnation. #Antisemitism https://t.co/33Tf6oOkwz
— Anthony Housefather (@AHousefather) March 28, 2023
The desecration of the century-old place of worship has garnered strong political reactions on all sides.
Anthony Housefather, federal member of Parliament for Mount Royal, took to Twitter calling the act “horrifying and unacceptable.”
Montreal mayor Valerie Plante described it as “horrible” in her Twitter post Tuesday, saying antisemitism has no place in her city.
La profanation de la synagogue Bagg Street Shul est un geste absolument inacceptable.
Je suis de tout coeur avec la communauté juive et je condamne fermement ces actes antisémites qui n’ont pas leur place dans notre société. #polmtl
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) March 29, 2023
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The Jewish community is rocked by the incident according to Marvin Rotrand of B’nai Brith Canada.
In an open letter to the mayor, the organization called for the city to do more to honor and protect the city’s large Jewish community.
“We recommend a declaration to mark Yom Hashoah be inscribed on the April 18 City Council meeting,” the letter reads.
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B’nai Birth claims incidents of hate targeting Jewish people in Montreal rose 20 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020 with a reported 36 incidents – the most in Canada.
Montreal police are investigating the incident.
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