Holocaust survivor Edward Fisch, 78, shows the nazi-and-muslim-graffiti written by anti-semites on the wall of the synagogue he attends in Bayview Avenue, Toronto
5th-08-2011 - TORONTO - Anti-Semitic graffiti spray-painted on a Toronto synagogue Thursday has brought back painful memories for at least one Holocaust survivor.
“It’s a terrible thing to see,” said Edward Fisch, standing outside Beth Tikvah Synagogue on Bayview Ave., north of Sheppard Ave. E. Friday morning. “When I see a swastika I see the Nazis coming, grabbing people and throwing them into the Danube.”
The words “Islam will rule” are scrawled on a brick wall in black paint beneath a red and black swastika.
Similar stencilled red and black swastikas have been reported in two other locations in Toronto this month, said Anita Bromberg, the national director of legal affairs for B’nai Brith Canada.
Both a Korean-language church not far from Beth Tikvah and a laneway near Avenue Rd. and Roselawn Ave. were defaced, Bromberg said.
Toronto Police are investigating the incident and are reviewing surveillance video taken by a small camera perched nearby in an attempt to identify the vandals.
“It’s hard to believe people like this — filled with hate and ignorance — are living in our city,” said Fisch, who survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary. “But it is not the first time we’ve seen this and it probably won’t be the last.”
The vandalism brought quick condemnation from political leaders.
Premier Dalton McGuinty tweeted that he was “saddened” and that there was no place in Ontario “for intolerance and hatred.”
PC Leader Tim Hudak said, “the message left at Beth Tikvah was a cowardly attempt to intimidate an entire community and undermine the religious freedoms that are a cornerstone virtue of Ontario, and our nation.
Source: torontosun.com
