Swastikas were drawn on posters of hostages held captive by Hamas since October 7. The vandalism occurred in Toronto’s Cedarvale Park, which a passerby noticed on Tuesday morning, April 9.
The black swastikas were mostly drawn on the faces of the hostages, which included the faces of babies and children. According to the Toronto Police Service, the posters have since been taken down, reports The Jerusalem Post.
Tamar Lyons, who discovered the vandalism, said, “Seeing those posters was very shocking,” adding that she had never encountered such graffiti in the area, where many Jewish residents live.
“We need to stand together and call out antisemitism when we see it,” said Lyons. “It’s one thing to have an opinion about what’s going on in the world, but it’s another to do something so hateful and that causes fear.”
Jewish Canadian organisations condemned the antisemitic vandalism, while Toronto Police announced a new anti-hate crime awareness campaign on Tuesday after law enforcement announced on March 18 that hate crimes had increased in the city by 93% since the October 7 massacre last year. Most of these crimes were antisemitic, and anti-Jewish crimes accounted for 56% of hate crimes in Toronto in 2024.
photo credit: TAMAR LYONS
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