Belleville attack should be ‘wake up call’ on rising antisemitism, Jewish group says

The head of a major Jewish advocacy group says the recent violent attack at a synagogue in Belleville, Ont., should serve as a “wake-up call” to the “much broader problem” of rising antisemitism and racist conspiracies in Canada. Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, made the comment just days after the Yom Kippur gun attack that left a police officer critically injured and the shooter dead. Shack told a press conference on Parliament Hill today that Sunday’s attack could have happened anywhere in the country.

Shack was speaking alongside Jewish university students who told reporters they’re experiencing more frequent instances of antisemitism both on and off campus. Related: After Belleville shooting, a look at recent violent incidents near synagogues Officer injured in Belleville synagogue shooting faces ‘long, difficult’ road ahead, wife says Parliament passed the Combatting Hate Act in June this year, which creates new Criminal Code offences for hate-motivated intimidation of identifiable groups, including through the intentional display of certain Nazi symbols. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says he wants to see specialized prosecutors responsible for all hate cases and the federal justice and public safety ministers seem receptive to the idea.

On Thursday, police said the shooting outside the synagogue was a hate-motivated attack targeting the Jewish community. Police Chief Murray Rodd says the shooter shouted, “You’re going to die for the Jews” before he opened fire on an officer outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue. The suspect, 29-year-old Sean Ward, was fatally injured in the police shootout and Const.

Jeff Smith, who was stationed outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue as those inside marked the start of Yom Kippur, was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition. None of the roughly two dozen people inside the synagogue were injured. At a news conference on Thursday, Rodd also shared video of the attack.

OTTAWA - The head of a major Jewish advocacy group said Thursday the recent violent attack at a synagogue in Belleville, Ont., should serve as a "wake-up call" on the "much broader problem" of rising antisemitism and racist conspiracies in…