September 7 cover story of the Toronto Dispatch on the surge of antisemitism in the city. Photo: Twitter.

A Canadian group has commended the city of Toronto for launching a campaign to raise awareness of antisemitism.

Announced on Wednesday, “Toronto For All” aims to encourage citizens to “confront” and “eliminate” antisemitism and other bigotries. Literature stressing the importance of reporting hate crimes and supporting victims of antisemitism will be offered to the public, while city officials will put up messaging in high traffic locations across the city.

Work on Toronto for All began last year with help from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), B’nai Brith Canada and Hasbara Fellowships Canada, three groups committed to fighting hate and misperceptions of Israel.

During a press conference about its launch, which was attended by Toronto Mayor John Tory and Councillor James Pasternak, FSWC Director of Policy Jaime Kirzner-Roberts called it “incredibly important.”

“It comes at a critical time as the Jewish community remains the most targeted group for hate crimes in the city,” Kirzner-Roberts said. “Antisemitism didn’t start nor end with the Holocaust, and while it is the oldest hatred, it’s sadly as prevalent today as ever. Our community needs allies to raise their voices against Jew-hatred and to join us in fighting this growing scourge.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory later expressed his high hopes for the campaign on Twitter, declaring that “Toronto is a city for everyone.”

“I want to thank community members for working with us to deliver this impactful campaign that will help up address an extremely troubling rise in antisemitism and acts of hatred against the Jewish community,” he said.

A surge of hate crimes in Canada has heightened concern about the safety of the country’s Jewish community. A recent report by the Toronto Police Service found that 257 took place in that city alone, with 56 targeting Jews.

Antisemitic hate crimes in Canada overall have reached record highs for six consecutive years, according to data compiled by B’nai B’rith Canada. Almost eight incidents per day occurred in 2021, a recent audit by the group revealed, including 2,460 episodes of harassment and 75 violent incidents throughout 2021.

Recently, a Toronto Uber eats driver pulled up to a yeshiva, accosting students and saying he would “kill 30 Jews today.” The scene was witnessed by the school’s cook, who was punched in the face after asking the man to leave. The cook then tackled the perpetrator and detained him until the arrival of the police, who discovered that he was armed with a knife. In July, the Hate Crimes Division of Toronto arrested a man for spraying a graffiti image of a Jew with sidelocks and a Star of David inside crosshairs next to a message that says, “Shoot a Jew in the head.”