Latest news with #JewishFederation
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
Baltimore County small business with an Israeli flag vandalized, police say
A Baltimore County storefront with an Israeli flag was vandalized Thursday morning, according to police. County councilman Izzy Patoka shared a photo of Kitchen Design by Idan, in the 6000 block of Falls Road, and the Israeli flag spray-painted red. "When it comes to expressions of hate, there can be no tolerance," Patoka said. "Today, I learned that a small business in our district, Kitchen Design by Idan, was the target of an apparent antisemitic act of vandalism." Police told WJZ they have been in contact with local organizations within the Jewish community to address potential concerns in the community. Anyone with information on the vandalism should call the Baltimore County Police Department at 410-887-4636. "Antisemitism has no place in our county, state, or country," Patoka said. "We must continue to call it out and speak with moral clarity." Advocates in the Baltimore area and law enforcement have recently taken steps to combat hate and antisemitism. The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore recently launched The Center to Combat Antisemitism and Hate, a new facility aimed at educating the public about antisemitism and fighting misinformation. The region has seen several antisemitic incidents in recent years. In July, a portion of a Baltimore School Board meeting was interrupted by racist and antisemitic content. The interruption prompted a hate crime investigation, officials said. Maryland law enforcement has said it is stepping up patrols in Jewish communities to protect them from hate crimes. Baltimore County Police said it would increase presence and patrols around places of worship, community centers, and other sensitive areas, in Pikesville specifically, given the large Jewish community there. The Baltimore Police Department and the Howard County Police Department also said they would increase patrols and presence similarly.
CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
Recognize this man? Victoria police seek suspect in synagogue vandalism
The Victoria Police Department released this photo of a man suspected in the vandalism of a synagogue on Aug. 2, 2025. Police in Victoria have released a photo of a man they say is a suspect in the antisemitic vandalism of a Victoria synagogue over the long weekend. Officers were called to the Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue on the morning of Aug. 2 when the scrawled statements were discovered, the Victoria Police Department said in a statement. On Wednesday, authorities released an image and appealed to the public for help identifying the suspect. 'VicPD is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all communities and appreciates any information the public may have to assist in this investigation,' the statement said. The graffiti was removed but not before a photo was taken and circulated online by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, as well as other groups. Premier David Eby took to social media to decry the vandalism as a 'disgusting act of hate' and Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger to say 'hate vandalism, speech and intimidation are not protected expressions – they are crimes and will be treated as such.' Anyone who recognizes the man in the photo or who has information that could assist investigators is urged to call 250-995-7654 and quote file number 25-29663. The synagogue on Blanshard Street was built in 1863. It is a national historic site of Canada and the country's oldest surviving synagogue.
CTV News
04-08-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
‘Disgusting act of hate': Victoria synagogue vandalized with antisemitic statements
The entrance of Congregation Emanu-el Synagogue in Victoria, B.C., was vandalized on Aug. 2, 2025. (Image credit: B.C.'s premier and public safety minister are condemning the vandalism of Canada's oldest surviving synagogue and pledging to support police and the community while an investigation is underway. The Victoria Police Department was called to the Congregation Emanu-el Synagogue on Saturday around 8 p.m. 'Officers documented the graffiti, and collected evidence, and then worked with City of Victoria to have it removed,' a spokesperson said in a statement. The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver was among the groups who shared an image of the statements scrawled on one of the columns flacking the building's front entrance on social media, along with a statement. 'We absolutely denounce this act of hate and stand in unwavering solidarity with the Victoria Jewish community. No one should ever feel unsafe in their place of worship,' a statement posted to X said. Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger, whose constituency is in Victoria, also decried the vandalism. 'Hate has no place in our province,' she wrote. 'Antisemitism has no place in British Columbia. Hate vandalism, speech and intimidation are not protected expressions — they are crimes and will be treated as such. The province of B.C. stands with our Jewish community, and with all people vulnerable to hate and violence.' Premier David Eby echoed the sentiment. 'Antisemitism has no place in our communities – not now, not ever,' he wrote. 'The Jewish community and police have our full support as they investigate this disgusting act of hate.' The investigation is ongoing, according to police, who said they have no further information to share about the incident. First built in 1863, the synagogue is a national historic site of Canada.
Los Angeles Times
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: California, not just L.A., must find ways to fight antisemitism
To the editor: Guest contributor Rabbi Noah Farkas writes that antisemitism is 'a Los Angeles problem' ('L.A. has more to do to fight antisemitism and protect Jewish residents,' June 4). It definitely is. But it is also a San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego problem, a California problem and an American problem. The lack of solidarity he speaks of in defense of civil rights, equity and equality for Jews is a state and national problem. We feel it as painfully and as palpably in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco as in Los Angeles. We struggle with the same challenges of being under-resourced to ensure the physical safety of Jewish community members at schools, senior centers, synagogues and community centers. We struggle, too, with the lack of recognition and inclusion of the diversity of the Jewish community including Ethiopian, Mizrahi and Sephardic voices, as Farkas notes, as well as Asian, African American and Hispanic Jews in ethnic studies curricula. Jews at California schools and universities experience well-documented marginalization, gaslighting and invidious targeting through verbal and physical abuse and violence, harassment, exclusion and discrimination, as Farkas illustrates. We need action and allyship on a local, state and national level on a bipartisan basis across society and with the support of the full diversity of the American people. Only then will Jewish people in America be safe and only then will we come closer to achieving freedom, equality and access to justice for all. Noam Schimmel, BerkeleyThis writer is a lecturer in global studies at UC Berkeley. .. To the editor: Farkas says L.A. must do more to fight antisemitism. This invites the question: Or what? What will the Jewish community of Los Angeles do if the government and citizens of the city and county of Los Angeles continue to ignore antisemitism? The word 'must' implies that there will be consequences for failure to act. Farkas should lead the Jewish Federation in developing a plan of action that will hold Los Angeles' leaders accountable for fighting antisemitism and that will impose actual consequences if those leaders fail. Stuart Creque, Moraga, Calif. .. To the editor: I doubt antisemitism is higher now than before. However, the expression of it certainly is. This is part of a general coarsening of public expression that was exacerbated in 2016 by a presidential candidate who called people names and is mean and confrontational. When he said that there were 'very fine people on both sides' in 2017, he opened the Pandora's box of hate that has its expression in vile and violent antisemitic attacks. As long as this tone is set from above, we will have violence, like that against lawmakers in Minnesota, and all sorts of hate-induced attacks. Measures that Farkas suggests will do little to counter this narrative of open expression of hate by our leaders. Harlan Levinson, Los Angeles
CTV News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
‘It's very scary': Impact of Israel-Iran conflict felt in Winnipeg
Smoke rises from the building of Iran's state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo) As Israel began its strikes against Iran Friday, halfway around the world Donya Naghibzadeh and her family started getting urgent messages. 'My mom's best friend had messaged her. She said, 'I just woke up with bombs being dropped in my neighbourhood,'' Naghibzadeh told CTV News. Her family runs the Tehran Market and Café in Winnipeg, Man. While she was born in Canada, many of Naghibzadeh's family members remain in Iran. 'My grandma's there right now,' Naghibzadeh said. 'She went back home to visit her family and now she's stuck there, and it's very scary.' Naghibzadeh said the last time she visited Iran was back in 2019, and she's been dreaming of returning ever since. Now she worries that may not happen. Since Israel's initial strikes Friday, which it said targeted Iranian military and nuclear complexes, the two countries have been exchanging missile and drone attacks. Death tolls on both sides continue to climb, with more than 200 killed in Iran and 24 reported dead in Israel on Tuesday. 'The Jewish community of Winnipeg prays for Israel and all of its citizens,' said Jeff Leiberman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. 'We hope for an end to the violence and that Israel can live in peace, just like every other country should be able to live in peace, as well.' He said the federation is monitoring the situation and has had to cancel a trip planned to Israel. Meanwhile, the conflict has left many in Winnipeg's growing Iranian community with fear and uncertainty, Naghibzadeh said. 'We're scared for our families, and there's not much we can do,' she said, adding she's lost contact with her family members in Iran as internet has been cut off. The last she heard, a bomb had dropped just a block away from her mother's uncle's home. She is hopeful her family is unharmed. 'I'm scared for what's going to happen to my family. I'm scared for basically what's going to happen to my country,' she said.
