‘Free Palestine’: Toronto School Bus Burned, Jewish Community Centers Vandalized

A school bus parked in a Jewish neighborhood in Toronto was firebombed on Monday, while anti-Israel graffiti messages like “Free Palestine” were painted on a kosher grocery store and Jewish community center.

Toronto police said the school bus has parked without incident in the same spot behind a grocery store for 15 years. It was gutted by arsonists on Monday and damaged beyond repair. The fire was extinguished before it could spread to other vehicles.

The police said they were investigating the incident as a crime of arson and a possible hate crime.

“Targeting Jews because of the Middle East is pure antisemitism and only makes us more determined to stand up for our beliefs,” said the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto (UJA).

UJA said it spoke with the police about the bus burning and also about the anti-Israel messages painted on the community center, kosher grocery, and at least two other business establishments.

Melissa Lantsman, a Conservative Party member of parliament from the Greater Toronto and Thornhill area, said the attacks on the grocery store and other Jewish businesses were “clear forms of intimidation, and nothing more.”

“We will not be intimidated by the lawless mob. This is an assault on Canadian values – and these thugs should be prosecuted,” Lantsman said.

“A government that accepts this as the new normal deserves to be defeated so that everyone can feel safe in this country,” she declared, referring to the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Toronto Fire Department said that it also had to extinguish a small fire burning in a toy storage shed behind a Jewish school on Tuesday morning. Fire crews entered the Leo Baeck Day School at about 3:30 a.m. local time and ventilated the building for smoke.

The police said its Hate Crime Unit was “consulted” about the school fire, but “there is no evidence that this incident was motivated by hate.” A police spokesperson told a local radio station that someone may have inadvertently started the fire while “using the shed for shelter.”