Hate crimes against Jews and Muslims on the rise since Hamas attack

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The city’s top cop says there has been a troubling rise in hate crimes against Jews and Muslims since Hamas attacked Israel earlier this month

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw says such occurrences are a “significant public safety concern,” so he plans to provide monthly reports on hate crime statistics at police service board meetings for “the foreseeable future.”

“We are certainly very conscious and aware of the growing concern in our communities around hate,” he said at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday.

Between Oct. 7 and Oct. 25, the chief said there have been 15 anti-Semitic incidents reported.

Over the same period in 2022, there were seven anti-Semitic incidents. And in 2021, Demkiw said there were three.

That’s a “very significant rise” in anti-Semitic occurrences, he said.

Between Oct. 7 and Oct. 25, Demkiw said there have been five anti-Muslim or anti-Islamic occurrences.

In 2022 during the same period, there were none, he said. And during that period in 2021, there was one occurrence.

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“We are presently resourcing a task force that will bring together an investigative resource to look at this holistically across the city, so that we can have the best possible investigative outcomes and the best possible opportunities to disrupt this hateful behaviour that is completely inconsistent with the values of Torontonians and, indeed, Canadians,” Demkiw said.

cdoucette@postmedia.com

@sundoucette