The Toronto Jewish community says it will remain steadfast even as antisemitic incidents continue in the city.
Some 300 people turned out on May 17 to walk 13-year-old Eitan Cohen to school in Toronto after stones were thrown at him and he was threatened by other children at the Faywood Arts-Based Curriculum School.
This entire community just walked a Jewish boy to school — 150 people to protect him.
— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) May 17, 2024
The little guy is REPEATEDLY attacked by schoolmates.
Gets death threats Hamas style.
Kids throw rocks at him.
Being a Jewish kid is a huge safety risk in Canada. pic.twitter.com/RM6sMPrYCa
According to the Canadian Jewish News, Adi Cohen, an Israeli mother of four, asked that people accompany her children to school as a show of support after her son received death threats from other students in the school.
Among those who came out in solidarity with the teen was Michael Kerzner, Toronto’s solicitor general.
“I am not taking my kippah off. I am not going to be afraid,” he told the crowd. “When I look around at the community’s that’s here, this is an amcha, a community of Jews and non-Jews.This is a community of people who understand decency, understand that it is our children that are our future and that we are not going to abandon them.”
Also on May 17, the glass windows and doors at Kehillat Shaarei Torah in Toronto were smashed for the second time in just a month.
The Toronto Police Service released an image of the suspect who was described as wearing a blue-hooded jacket and black pants. They said the investigation “is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offense.”
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said on X, “We are utterly horrified by this repeat attack. Jews deserve to feel safe at their places of worship, and not be targeted with such acts of violence.”
As for the synagogue, according to HonestReporting Canada, it has changed its outside billboard to read, “Windows Shatter Easily, community don’t.”
Earlier this month, Canada set a record for the number of antisemitic incidents in 2023 as nearly 5,800 incidents—including 77 violent incidents—were reported, according to the Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents from B’nai Brith Canada.
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