Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “disgusted and angry” at swastika graffiti on election signs for Jewish Members of Parliament
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he is “disgusted and angry” after it was revealed that election signs belonging to two Jewish MPs had been vandalised with swastikas.
The MPs, Anthony Housefather and Rachel Bendayan, are both members of Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada.
The Canadian leader took to Twitter to voice condemnation of the graffiti, writing: “I am disgusted and I am angry that @RachelBendayan and @AHousefather had signs vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. It is completely unacceptable. I stand in solidarity with Rachel and Anthony, and the entire Jewish community, against this type of hatred.”
Both MPs, who are representing different areas of Quebec in Canada’s upcoming election, used their own Twitter accounts to address the vandalism.
Ms Bendayan, the MP for Outremont, an area that is understood to have a large Jewish population, posted images showing that at least two of her placards had been defaced with the Nazi symbol. She wrote: “Whatever your political views, spreading hateful and violent messages is not the way to go. We’ve seen the road that the politics of the far right leads us to in the US and around the world. That is not us. That is not our Canada.”
Mr Housefather, representing Mount Royal, tweeted that it was “Pretty sad to see #antisemitism hitting the campaign on Day 3.” He added: “I can assure whoever did this that no swastika is going to scare me or stop me from speaking up for Jewish Canadians.”
The graffiti was denounced on Twitter by several Canadian politicians from a variety of parties.
In May, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau offered his support to Canada’s Jews after the country saw a surge in antisemitism. In a tweet, he wrote: “I am deeply disturbed by recent reports of antisemitic acts in Montreal and across the country. This intimidation and violence is absolutely unacceptable – and it must stop immediately. There is no place for hate of any kind in Canada.”
A few weeks ago, a swastika was found spray-painted onto the pavement next to a Jewish man’s car in Kelowna, Canada.
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