'Leave Canada' Graffitied on Canada Shul

Over this weekend, antisemitic messages, including ‘Leave Canada,’ were spray-painted on a synagogue in Alberta, Canada.

The messages were found Saturday, Jan. 24, on the side of the Beth Israel Synagogue, located in the Oleskiw neighborhood of West Edmonton.

Police said the building was tagged in purple paint using block letters approximately one foot in size, reported the Global News of Canada.

“A number of the congregants were quite distraught, having seen the graffiti on their way into the synagogue. They alerted me to it and, of course, I was shocked and devastated as well,” said Rabbi Daniel Friedman.

“We know that this is not typical of our Canadian brothers and sisters, most of whom share our Canadian values of openness and tolerance," the rabbi said. But, he added, "the synagogue has been fire-bombed and attacked with hateful words in the past."

“No organization, establishment or individual should be victim to this type of crime. We are actively working with the synagogue and community partners to bring resolution to this incident,” said Cst. Daniel Woodall with the Edmonton Police Service Hate Crime Detail.

A nearby Sikh place of worship had similar noxious graffiti scrawled on its wall last week.