Victoria police investigate antisemitic graffiti at 'oldest synagogue in Western Canada'

Police are investigating an incident involving antisemitic graffiti at a Victoria synagogue that a rabbi says has left the congregation in shock.

The incident at Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue, a place of worship that has stood at the corner of Blanshard and Pandora in the city's downtown since 1863, has drawn condemnations from politicians, Jewish groups and the synagogue's rabbi.

Photos on social media show a message handwritten in black, capital letters scrawled near an entrance to the synagogue.

"It was really a message of real hate," Rabbi Harry Brechner said on Wednesday, recalling what was written. "That they would get their revenge; they were calling us evil and baby killers and all of that kind of stuff. It was pretty harsh."

Victoria police say they were called to the synagogue on Saturday. Brechner said a congregant found the message next to a set of doors during a busy day, with worship services and a bar mitzvah.

The police department said in a statement said its officers then "documented the graffiti, collected evidence, and then worked with [the] City of Victoria to have it removed."

They are encouraging anyone with information about it to contact them.

Politicians decry message

The graffiti drew rebukes from politicians like Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto, Public Safety Minister Nina Kreiger and Premier David Eby.

"I am saddened and disappointed to hear of the racist and antisemitic graffiti that was left on the Congregation Emanu-El building this weekend," Alto's statement read. 

"As the oldest synagogue in Western Canada, Congregation Emanu-El and the Jewish community have been, and remain, a key part of the Victoria community, and this disturbing vandalism is deeply harmful."

According to the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, 62 per cent of Jewish British Columbians have experienced at least one antisemitic incident since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Brechner said despite such incidents rising in Canada, Victoria has been "pretty quiet," making this incident "a little bit shocking."

"Even things between the pro-Palestinian demonstrators and the synagogue, they've been really cordial. People have been pretty respectful. So this sort of changed that," he said.

"I think it was one person trying to take something into their own hands in a very misguided way, but also, beyond misguided because it was really hateful, right?"