York Regional Police (YRP) are searching for two suspects who allegedly broke into and vandalized a commercial property in Markham, Ont., leaving anti-Semitic graffiti.
The incident occurred at around 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 10, when the two suspects broke into a commercial unit near Yonge Street and Doncaster Avenue, police said.
“The suspects vandalised the property causing significant damage, and left anti-Semitic graffiti on the property,” YRP said in a press release on Jan. 13.
Images released by police show the suspects covering their faces with masks and hoodies. YRP’s hate crime prevention unit is investigating and seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspects.
“York Regional Police takes these matters seriously and is reminding the community we will not tolerate any form of hate crime,” police said in the release.
Authorities have not identified the site of the vandalism publicly. Two Jewish organizations, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) for Holocaust Studies and the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) have both said in statements it was an office for the kosher restaurant business La Briut.
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This incident follows two separate “hate-motivated mischief“ incidents reported by Toronto police in December, where a Toronto synagogue was vandalized.
In the first incident, a suspect vandalized signs on the synagogue’s front lawn before fleeing in a Ford pickup truck, police said. On Dec. 20, a suspect targeted the same synagogue, vandalizing signs once again and fleeing in the same truck. Authorities suspect the same middle-aged male is responsible for both incidents.
Canada has seen a 670 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents since Hamas launched an incursion into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to an October 2024 report by the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism. Numerous reports of vandalism, gunfire, and other violent threats against Jewish communities—including schools, businesses, and synagogues—have emerged since the attack.
Recent incidents include the targeting of Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School, a Jewish girls’ day school in Toronto, which was hit by gunfire for a third time on Dec. 20, 2024. The school had previously been struck by gunfire last May and again in October.
On Dec. 18, 2024, just days before the Toronto school shooting, a synagogue and a Jewish community centre in Montreal were also targeted for the second time by incendiary devices, causing burns to the structure. The synagogue, located in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Montreal’s West Island, is a recurring victim, having previously been firebombed on Nov. 7, 2023.
The federal government has announced plans to hold a National Forum on Combating Antisemitism in February in Ottawa. To be co-chaired by the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety, the forum will address the growing public safety threat of anti-Semitism, according to a Dec. 20 press release.
