OP-ED: Terror hits synagogues while Toronto’s “leaders” look away

"At a press conference Sunday in front of one of the synagogues targeted by Jew haters who shot into its front windows, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw insisted the 'violence must stop.'"

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At a press conference Sunday in front of one of the synagogues targeted by Jew haters who shot into its front windows, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw insisted the “violence must stop.

”We are going to be relentless … we will leave no stone unturned,” he told the media.

”It’s a very active file… a lot is going on… we will leave no stone unturned,” he repeated when asked about suspects.

This comes during a week in which terrorist sympathizers shot through the front doors of three synagogues in Toronto — including my own, Temple Emanu-El—and the front windows of my friend Esther Bakinka’s recently opened restaurant.

It comes two days after Demkiw’s newly promoted deputy chief Frank Barredo, arrogantly compared the shootings to random acts of violence and lectured those listening to the webinar that the police have assigned plenty of manpower and they can’t be expected to put a cop on every corner to protect my Toronto community.

The pushback to his cavalier comments was swift.

My community is mad as hell. To put it simply: For two-plus years the police have adopted a kid gloves approach with the terrorist bullies, likely with direction from our anti-Semitic mayor to attend hate rallies to keep the peace only.

I’ve lost count how many of the same terrorist-sympathizing bullies return time and again to try to intimidate Jews in their own neighbourhood, rip down mezuzahs from seniors residences, scream “Death to the Jews” on the streets of downtown Toronto—and get away with it.

Demkiw’s cliches about “a lot going on” don’t move me and I would venture to remind him that there have been NO arrests of perpetrators who took down the mezuzahs months ago or many of the other acts of vandalism that have taken place in the past 2.5 years.

They seem to be only zealous about arresting low-hanging fruit like Jews who come to counter-protest.

Perhaps Barredo’s comments and cavalier attitude were more indicative of the truth than Demkiw’s cliches.

The police don’t give a damn about protecting Toronto’s Jewish community and because they don’t effect arrests or remove intimidating protests from Jewish events and Toronto’s streets, the terrorist attacks have escalated dramatically to the point where Jews like me are talking about leaving Toronto.

It’s not just the police, however.

I’ve written many times about Mayor Olivia Chow’s anti-Semitism and that of the Progress Toronto lobbyists who surround her and of her deliberate snubs of the Jewish community.

It is worth noting that she chose a polar plunge at the Zoo over Sunday’s press conference. She does have her priorities.

Even her comments about the multiple synagogue shootings tried to place the blame on international events for the increased attacks, as if her laissez-faire attitude and open hostility towards the Jewish community had not made an iota of difference.

You’re right, Olivia. The Jews in Canada are at fault because Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have unleashed firepower against Iran.

Council hasn’t been much better. The Marxists are one thing. But other than Brad Bradford, the more Conservative wing has kept its mouth shut.

I had to laugh at the well-past-his-due-date councillor Michael Colle, who railed on Sunday about how the province and feds have to do more to stem this obscene anti-Semitism. Hmmm. What has he done exactly?

But then provincial solicitor general Michael Kerzner was also standing there on Sunday — a testament to the weakness and incompetence of a politician who appears to care more about keeping in the Premier’s good grace instead of doing what’s right.

We are past outrage. Mr. Kerzner, we are sickened at how weak you’ve been and how you’ve done nothing to protect your fellow Jews.

Premier Doug Ford has issued enough “thoughts and prayers” statements to wallpaper my dining room, but let’s be frank, he won’t do anything for fear he’ll upset his Muslim base.

Then there’s our anti-Semitic Prime Minister Mark Carney and his foreign minister Anita Anand, who have taken every opportunity to badmouth the Jewish state and have aligned themselves with terrorists and dictators.

In this tweet, he makes it sound as if the gunshots assaulted the synagogues. Heaven forbid he should mention his terrorist friends.

Our highly narcissistic PM — who thinks he’s far more competent, insightful and intelligent than he is — will never protect us. He and his caucus have done more to enable anti-Semitism with their words and by letting in, virtually unvetted, refugees from countries that hate the West generally and Jews in particular.

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t take to task the legacy media.

If these were mosques, the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, CTV and CBC would be absolutely horrified and write about the incidents for days.

Many of the Jewish-targeted incidents get a passing reference and no one at these outlets even bothers to hold our politicians or police to account for their tone deafness.

The reporter from the Toronto Star didn’t think it was the least bit poor judgment at Sunday’s press conference to ask Demkiw about Islamophobia.

Last I looked, no one is driving around shooting up mosques.

But then who cares? It’s just Jews.

Still the haters don’t realize how resilient we all are.

Since last Monday at 11 p.m. on Purim when Jew haters unloaded 12 shots into the glass doors of the synagogue my wife and I have attended for 16 years, the lovely rabbi Debra Landsberg has emailed us repeatedly with updates, with words of encouragement and with the message that the show will go on.

On Sunday, she sent an email referring to the rebuilding campaign and saying, “Our building is damaged, our congregation is not.”