WARNING: This story contains references to and images of antisemitic graffiti.
Halifax police are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect they believe is connected to antisemitic graffiti that was written on synagogues over the weekend.
In a statement Monday, Halifax Regional Police said they responded to six incidents of racist graffiti on the peninsula on Sunday, including three incidents where the graffiti was written directly on synagogues, and three others where it was written on nearby sidewalks.
The graffiti, which included swastikas, was discovered at Beth Israel synagogue on Oxford Street and the nearby Shaar Shalom synagogue on Sunday morning.
A nearby building associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch of the Maritimes Rohr Family Institute was also defaced with the words “Jews did 9/11.”
Spray-painted graffiti on the exterior of Shaar Shalon synagogue, left, and Beth Israel synagogue was discovered Sunday morning. (Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs)
In an interview with CBC News on Monday, Beth Israel Rabbi Yakov Kerzner said that while the incident was “disturbing” he wants “to make sure that this doesn’t create fear within the Jewish community and within our synagogue.”
“We have to stand up as Jews and part of the community as a whole and say we are not going to be afraid,” Kernzner said.
Halifax rabbi speaks out against antisemitic graffiti
Beth Israel Rabbi Yakov Kerzner says he’s disturbed by racist graffiti discovered at two synagogues on Sunday. He spoke with the CBC’s Tom Murphy.
Police say the incidents are being investigated as hate crimes and that investigators are increasing patrols at synagogues and other religious institutions following the incident.