Recent reports of Zoombombing and anti-Semitic graffiti have emerged from Toronto.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) News reported on April 26 that Shaarei Shomayim’s April 19 service held on the Zoom platform was disrupted with anti-Semitic messages such as “Hitler was right!”
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler told CBC News that the Zoombombing was traumatizing and pointed out that nearly all of the 20 people on the Zoom call left when the disruption occurred.
“On that call, there was a great grandmother who never experienced an anti-Semitic incident before in her life,” he said. “On that call there was a Holocaust survivor who didn’t know what happened, didn’t know what was going on. There was a bar mitzvah boy, a 13-year-old young man, who was also on that call.”
Zoombombing is the unwanted audio and/or video intrusion by one or more individuals, often containing offensive content, that causes a disruption during a session.
Strauchler said that the synagogue has since changed its Zoom settings so all participants will be screened in a waiting room before the host lets them join.
Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center president and CEO Avi Benlolo condemned the Zoombombing in an April 24 statement.
“As the coronavirus pandemic brings more people online, we are seeing a disturbing trend called Zoombombing gain popularity,” he said. “What is very concerning is that Jewish groups and synagogues holding online services have been especially targeted by anti-Semitic Zoombombers who are exposing members — young and old — to such hateful and vile messages and images.”
Benlolo added: “Just like we have seen an increase in physical violent attacks on synagogues, we are now seeing an increase in online attacks, so we urge for more safety precautions to be taken during these times.”
On April 25, the Toronto Star reported that the words “Blame the Jews!” was found on a person’s garage in the west end of Toronto sometime during Passover; the graffiti likely blamed Jews for the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, on April 9, graffiti stating “Zionists are not welcome” was found on an Aroma Espresso Bar in downtown Toronto.
B’nai Brith Canada released a report on April 27 finding that there was an average of more than six anti-Semitic incidents occurring a day in Canada in 2019. There were 2,207 total anti-Semitic incidents in Canada that year, an 8% increase from 2018.
“These figures, and the brazenness of the incidents we are seeing, would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago,” B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn said in a statement. “Instead, they have become a loathsome reality in this country.”
