One community leader labelled the incident a form of ‘psychological terror’
December 22, 2025 13:13
A swastika was trodden into the snow outside a Jewish doctor's house in Montreal last week in what one community leader has called an act of "psychological terror".
The doctor and their family, whose identities have not been released, are reported to have returned home to find the Nazi symbol on their property, with faeces also strewn nearby.
One community leader told Jewish news outlet The J.CA: “This is what antisemitism looks like when it leaves social media and enters people’s lives.
“It is meant to frighten children, isolate families, and send a message that Jews are not welcome, even in their own neighbourhoods.”
Another told the outlet: “What we are seeing is the normalisation of antisemitism. When perpetrators believe they can mark Jewish homes with Nazi symbols without consequences, it reflects a failure of deterrence.”
A third said: “This is not about property damage. It is about psychological terror.”
Canada has seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents since October 7, recording almost a 100 per cent increase on 2022’s figure.
These have included synagogues being vandalised and violent assaults on Jews.
In October, the Kehillat Shaarei Torah in Toronto was targeted by vandals for the tenth time in half a year, according to the Times of Israel.
In August, a visibly Jewish man was beaten to the ground in a Montreal park in front of his young children and his kippah thrown into a water fountain.
And, that same month, balloons filled with what victims believed to be urine were thrown at Jewish visitors to a pride march, which itself had originally banned two large Jewish LGBTQ groups from attending.
Police are currently investigating the swastika outside the doctor's home.
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