Toronto – The Toronto Police Service’s Hate Crime Unit is investigating after an Indigo book store at Bay Street and Bloor Street West in downtown Toronto was vandalized on Friday morning, CityNews Toronto reported.
While police did not provide details on the nature of the vandalism, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) said the store was found vandalized with red paint and posters plastered on its front windows wrongfully accusing its Jewish founder and CEO, Heather Reisman, of “Funding Genocide.”
The posters appeared on the exterior of the store sometime Friday morning, reported CP24.
“It is absolutely appalling to see this targeting of an Indigo store and its Jewish founder and CEO in a vile antisemitic attack,” said FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt.
“The fact that it occurred on the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when thousands of Jewish businesses were vandalized and destroyed in a Nazi-led pogrom in Germany and Austria just before the Holocaust, makes it even more painful to witness. Sadly, this is the tragic, new reality for Jews today in Canada and around the world which requires more than just condemnations from government leaders,” he added.
The incident is the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents in Toronto. Such incidents have been on a rise since Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel. FSWC recently said it is deeply disturbed by the recent surge in antisemitic incidents in Toronto.
These incidents include graffiti depicting the Star of David smeared with red paint to symbolize blood and words such as “Free Palestine” and “Soaked in Blood” above the symbol.
