Montreal police report surge in hate crimes since Israel-Hamas war

Police say that as of Wednesday they had received reports of 12 hate crimes targeting the city's Jewish community and four targeting Montreal's Arab and Muslim communities.

Montreal police say they’ve received reports of 16 hate crimes, mostly targeting Jewish people, since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.

Police say that, as of Wednesday, they had received reports of 12 hate crimes targeting the city’s Jewish community — including one during a protest — and four hate crimes targeting the city’s Arab and Muslim communities.

Police say that during the same period there were also 13 “hate incidents” targeting the Jewish community and seven targeting Arabs or Muslims.

Hate incidents are described by the police as actions that are not criminal but that may affect people’s sense of safety, such as the distribution of offensive material, insults and offensive gestures.

In its annual report, the police service said there were 50 hate crimes and 21 incidents targeting people based on their religion in 2022, along with 118 hate crimes and 35 incidents targeting people based on their ethnic or national origin.

Police spokeswoman Melanie Bergeron said in an email that the service is responding to the current climate by being more visible outside places of worship and other sites of interest.