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How a repeatedly vandalized Toronto synagogue is navigating a new era of security
Michael Gilmore, who runs the synagogue that may hold the ignominious title of being Canada’s most vandalized, has become accustomed to 3 a.m. phone calls.
After hearing from the security company, he’s braced for coordinating a daytime visit from Toronto Police Services—a recurring experience in the aftermath of vandalism and other attacks targeting the building.
The executive director of Kehillat Shaarei Torah (KST), a 45-year-old modern Orthodox congregation with about 200 member families, which has been led by Rabbi Joe Kanofsky since 2009—located in the Bayview Village area of North York—has learned to respond nimbly to overnight attacks: the shul was vandalized, attacked, sustained property damage, at least eight times between April and December.
One person was arrested Jan. 13 in connection with a July 31 incident at the synagogue, when two sturdy lawn signs expressing the synagogue’s support for Israel were set on fire. It’s the first arrest in the series of incidents determined to be hate-motivated. Police have not released further details about the charges or the identity of the person arrested.
Gilmore said he’s pleased that at least one suspect has been found.
“I have always had full confidence in their ability to do it… it takes longer in reality than we’d like, but that’s just the system that we live in…. and hopefully the rest of our vandalism [incidents]… the person, the people that [did those] does get arrested as well.”
Since last April, the synagogue at the corner of Bayview Avenue and Fifeshire Road has had its windows and glass doors smashed by hammers and attacked with exploding mini-projectiles Gilmore says were designed to crack the glass on impact—along with several incidents of lawn signs for hostages set ablaze and defaced with spray-painted messages.
The first time the synagogue was attacked, it hit Gilmore hard.
“We all have that deep-seated fear as a Jewish people that one day something’s going to happen, to our synagogue,” school, home or childcare centre, he reflects.
“Waking up to those vandalism [incidents] [represents] that fear being actualized.”
KST’s executive director has learned to adapt and anticipate, figuring out next steps after an incident: “Who needs to talk to the police?”
“Now in my head I’ve unfortunately worked that into my routine,” he said, coming to anticipate that “we’re probably going to get vandalized again.”
“How do we navigate everyday shul life while always getting vandalized? How do I make sure I organize my day well enough … [so that] I could deal with the police… with getting things fixed [if] they need to be,” mused Gilmore.
The first incident, in April, involved a suspect smashing five windows with a hammer and was followed by a dead raccoon being left in the shul parking lot, which was not deemed to be a suspected hate-motivated occurrence. Another hammer attack followed May 17.
Next came a June 30 incident involving projectiles someone threw at the building that Gilmore says were designed to damage the windows.
“It wasn’t rocks, because they made these little explosions when it hit our window,” he said. “Luckily we already had the polycarbonate [window coverings] on, it prevented projectiles from getting through the windows, but they still shattered the glass behind it, and it created… a small, not explosion, but it kind of broke apart, exploded a bit when it hit the polycarbonate covering. [Those] weren’t rocks for sure… [the person] brought those with [them].”
Gilmore characterizes the people vandalizing the synagogue as cowards.
“Never in my life have I thought, ‘oh, it’s 3 in the morning. I’m going to go vandalize a place of worship, try and scare some people.’ I mean, I’m asleep… a person who has a life that’s filled with commitments, they can’t do [that]. The person whose life is filled with hate and just wants to destroy, they find the time.”
Gilmore has developed a working rapport with police and has maintained contact with the police Hate Crimes Unit during its investigations.
The eight separate incidents don’t follow any predictable sequence of events. However, Gilmore has noticed distinguishing details about the individual suspects when reviewing security videos.
“The person who smashed the windows was left-handed when they use the hammer. The person who threw the projectiles through our windows was right-handed. They came on a motorcycle. The person that [set the sign on fire, on July 31] was right-handed. They came in and they lit the sign on fire and then went south on a motorcycle again.”
The suspect in the two December incidents, whose images police released earlier in January, “came without a mask” and had “different hats” according to Gilmore—and they seemed to be a different suspect than other vandalism incidents.
As to why his synagogue has been singled out, he believes it’s KST’s location.
The synagogue is not on the heavily-travelled Bathurst Street corridor, home to many of the city’s Jewish institutions. The building is easily visible along a road with no close residential neighbours in sight, and is just a few blocks from Highway 401, where vandals can make a quick escape.
“I think it’s… some [part] opportunities, some [part] where we are located, and … in the area, that they know the synagogue and it’s the easiest place for them to vandalize.”
Gilmore has overseen a range of security upgrades and additional expenses since spring 2024, including adding additional security video cameras, and in some cases replacing them with better cameras. A new access control system enables him to see “who enters the building, when they enter, when they leave” and a security fence was recently installed around the entire premises.
Windows that were broken have been replaced, and polycarbonate security coverings were layered atop those windows in addition to a security film to prevent anyone from actually entering the synagogue if they managed to get through the polycarbonate covering. Security film was also added to glass door replacements.
Night time security guards were also hired depending on the news from Israel, for instance when Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed, and during Jewish holidays.
Gilmore says the security company has been responsive to KST’s needs. However, the synagogue can’t afford to have security guards on-site permanently.
The federal programs to assist communities experiencing hate crime attacks will, eventually, reimburse half the cost of upgrades, says Gilmore, but he finds the process of applying for the Public Safety Canada grants unduly slow and onerous.
Worse for this particular congregation—whose clever wordplay slogans on its roadside sign have earned global attention online—is that Gilmore finds they are caught in a bureaucratic catch-22. The shul’s security grant application was made under the previous Security Infrastructure Program (SIP) and reimburses up to 50 percent of total costs.
That application and reimbursement process was already underway when the new version of the program, Canada Community Security Program (CCSP), which reimburses up to 70 percent, was rolled out—but work begun or undertaken under the previous program’s funding can’t be funded by the new program.
Gilmore can’t apply for the increased reimbursement for any work that’s already been done, and would lose the current 50 percent reimbursement grant if he pulled out of SIP to instead apply under CCSP.
‘This whole thing has been a headache basically for every other synagogue director I’ve spoken to,” he said. He explains that after KST was vandalized, it qualified for the federal program’s fast-tracked funding stream, called Severe Hate-Motivated Incident Support.
“When I initially submitted the application, we’d only been vandalized once, when the process had started… by the time it was all finished, we’ve been vandalized four times. It took a few months to get everything approved. We had to go through and calculate all the costs that we would be applying for.”
He says it’s a fault in the system that’s set up to appear to be doing more than it really is, and in the process creates onerous tasks for security grant applicants who are in the middle of responding to unsettling incidents.
“I’m not sure how they came up with [these programs]… it feels like no members of the groups this is supposed to help have had input,” said Gilmore.
He says he understands the government’s attempt to support communities who’ve been targeted, “however, if they’d spoken to member of Jewish community… synagogues, schools … they’d see how effective the program actually is.
“It feels like the government talking to the people [they’re supposed to help], rather than a partnership,” which Gilmore finds “unfortunate, but common.”
Fortunately, a “KS Strong” fund raising drive in 2024 helped the shul pay for the upgrades, which he says came out to $151,286, with a federal grant reimbursing half, or $75,643. He notes that donations came not only from members but also from the wider community around the synagogue.
In addition, Jewish Security Network (JSN), the new independent agency that absorbed the security operation previously housed under the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, has been supporting KST with security consulting, assessments, advice on upgrades and procedures, and providing some of the funding for the synagogue’s security costs.
According to Gilmore, the security recommendations from the JSN team, then with UJA, matched those of TPS nearly identically.
JSN’s director, Jevon Greenblatt, confirmed that JSN has committed to paying a portion of KST’s security upgrade cost, but declined to say how much.
The area’s new Toronto city councillor, Rachel Chernos-Lin, cited the vandalized synagogue at a city hall meeting in December, during discussion on a bylaw proposal to prevent demonstrations from encroaching on community spaces as well as grants to protect vulnerable buildings from car attacks. After about 90 minutes of debate, a vote secured the funding and a request to staff to develop the bylaw proposal.
“At City Hall, we often speak about the beauty of Toronto being our diversity. But increasingly Jewish families in Toronto are being targeted with hate and real antisemitism, and we as a council… cannot let this continue,” Chernos-Lin said at the council meeting Dec. 18.
“No community in Toronto should have to live in fear. No community in Toronto should be held responsible for the actions of governments in other parts of the world because of their religious affiliation. For many in my community, it doesn’t feel like meaningful action has been taken to combat antisemitism, not just at the city level but by all levels of government, and so I believe it is up to us as a council to say ‘enough is enough’ and ‘what can we do?’”
In an interview with The CJN, Chernos-Lin, formerly a school trustee for the ward, said she’s heard criticisms that there’s been a lack of government taking action.
Jewish Torontonians, including in her ward, she says, want to know “‘why are we a year in and not seeing anything being done?”
“The longer we go, and allow hate to manifest, the worse it’s going to get and the harder it’s going to be to stop it down the road,” she said.
“If we really care about everybody in our city, we have to be standing up for Jews.”
Ruth Urbach, a longtime member of KST—whose services roamed from area homes to rental facilities for nearly a decade, as it gradually settled into a permanent building on the site of a house that was later demolished—says the close-knit congregation has been brought even closer of late, but there’s much more to community life than these incidents.
“I would hope people know when they think of the synagogue not to think that we’re all only dwelling on this, and frightened. You can come to the shul and it might not even come up. It doesn’t inform every interaction that we have,” she told The CJN.
“It’s something that’s going on. We wish it hadn’t happened and we really hope that there will be arrests. No synagogue should have to deal with anything like this,” said Urbach, who is also a current board member—though she added “the shul’s dealing with it very well.”
The congregation has always included a significant portion of members from the South African Jewish community, reflecting the majority of the founding families. Celebrations and events for its 45th anniversary are in the works for later in the year; several members who signed the original article of incorporation are still around.
When the celebration is being planned, the “hateful incidents” of 2024 don’t come to mind, according to Urbach.
Michael Gilmore says the synagogue refuses to back down in the face of vandalism, which may be why it has been targeted so frequently.
“They [vandals] could do whatever they want to do, and it’s not going to stop us from being proud Jews… from being proud members… I think that is the overall feeling… of strength and unity, and carry on with life,” he said.
After the first vandalism the community united in a message of defiance to vandals and attackers.
“You’re going to try and break us… we’re not going to be broken,” he said, remembering a response from the synagogue’s rabbi, assembled in block letters on the permanent sign outside the building.
“Windows shatter easily. Communities don’t,” said Gilmore, quoting Rabbi Kanofsky’s now most-circulated outdoor sign message. “That’s what has really been our mantra.”
The post How a repeatedly vandalized Toronto synagogue is navigating a new era of security appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘Valid For All Countries Except Israel’
US passport. Photo: Pixabay.
JNS.org – There’s an unwritten rule among governments in many Muslim countries—when things go wrong at home, turn on the State of Israel.
Bangladesh, one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in Asia, provides the latest example of this tactic. Last week, the authorities in Dhaka announced that they were reintroducing what is essentially a disclaimer on the passports issued to its citizens: “Valid for all countries except Israel.” That shameful inscription was abandoned in 2021 by the government of recently ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, although it was never followed up with diplomatic outreach to Israel, much less recognition of the Jewish state’s right to a peaceful and sovereign existence.
The rationale for the move in 2021 was that Bangladeshi passports had to be brought up to date with international standards. However, the war in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has apparently canceled out that imperative.
“For many years, our passports carried the ‘except Israel’ clause. But the previous government suddenly removed it,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Nurus Salam, passports director at the Department of Immigration, told the Arab News. Somewhat disingenuously, he added: “We were used to seeing ‘except Israel’ written in our passports. I don’t know why they took it out. If you talk to people across the country, you’ll see they want that line back in their passports. There was no need to remove it.”
It’s been 25 years since I was in Bangladesh, where I spent several months as a BBC consultant assisting with the launch of the country’s first private TV news station. One of the aspects that struck me profoundly—in contrast to Salam’s claim that the people want their passports to preclude travel to Israel—was the lack of hostility towards Israel among the many Bangladeshis I met and worked with, and I have no reason to believe that this attitude has fundamentally shifted. Most Bangladeshis are consumed by their own country’s vast problems, and the distant Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not impinge in any way on the resolution of those.
When I told people that I was Jewish, had family in Israel and had spent a great deal of time there, the most common response was curiosity. For the great majority, I was the first Jew they had ever met, and they eagerly quizzed me about the Jewish religion, often noting the overlaps with Islamic practices, such as circumcision and the prohibition on consuming pork.
“What is Israel like? What are the people like?” was a conversation I engaged in on more than one occasion. I remember with great affection a journalist called Salman, a devout Muslim who invited me to his home for an iftar meal during Ramadan. Salman was convinced that there were still a couple of Jews living in Bangladesh, and he combed Dhaka trying to find them so that he could introduce me (he never succeeded because there were no Jews there, but I appreciated his efforts.) I also remember members of the Hindu community, who compose about 8% of the population, drawing positive comparisons between Bangladesh’s Indian-backed 1971 War of Independence against Muslim Pakistan and Israel’s own War of Independence in 1947-48.
To understand why Bangladesh has taken this regressive decision requires a hard look at its domestic politics. In August of last year, the government of Sheikh Hasina—the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the dominant political figure over the past 30 years—was overthrown following a wave of protest against its well-documented corruption, discriminatory practices and judicial interference. Her downfall was accompanied by a surge of sectarian violence against Hindu homes, businesses and temples, with more than 2,000 incidents recorded over a two-week period. In the eyes of many, Hindus were associated with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League Party, and the violence against them suggested that Islamist positions were making headway in a country that flew the banner of secular nationalism in its bid to win freedom from Pakistani rule.
The passport decision can be viewed in a similar light: Bangladesh asserting its identity as a Muslim country standing in solidarity with the Palestinians, the Islamic world’s pre-eminent cause, at the same time as breaking with the legacy of Sheikh Hasina’s rule. Yet that stance will not alleviate the fiscal misery of Bangladeshi citizens, with more than one in four people living below the poverty line. Nor will it address the chronic infrastructure problems that plague the country’s foreign trade, or tackle the bureaucracy and red tape that crushes entrepreneurship and innovation.
In short, supporting the Palestinians brings no material benefits for ordinary Bangladeshis, who would doubtless gain from a genuine relationship with Israel that would introduce, among many other advantages, more efficient water technology to counter the presence of arsenic and the lack of sanitation that often renders Bangladesh’s large reserves of water unusable and undrinkable.
Even so, ideology and Muslim identity may not be the only explanations for the Bangladeshi decision. It can also be seen as a gesture towards Qatar, the wealthiest country in the Islamic world, which has artfully cultivated trade and diplomatic ties with a slew of less developed countries, Bangladesh included. Last year, Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, paid a two-day state to Bangladesh that showcased Doha’s contributions in the form of bilateral trade worth $3 billion as well as millions of dollars in Qatari grants for school and higher education. Such largesse on the part of the Qataris is a critical means of ensuring that governments in Bangladesh and other Muslim nations stay away from the Abraham Accords countries that have made a peace of sorts with Israel.
Bangladesh is not, of course, the only country to prevent its citizens from traveling to Israel or denying entry to Israeli passport holders. A few days after the Bangladeshi decision, the Maldives—another Muslim country that enjoys close relations with Qatar—announced that Israelis would no longer be permitted to visit. None of these bans is likely to be lifted as long as Israel is at war with the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Iran’s regional proxies and the Iranian regime itself.
The ripple effects of that war—antisemitic violence in Western countries, cold-shouldering of Israel by countries without a direct stake in the conflict—will continue to be felt. None of that changes the plain fact that this remains a war that Israel must win.
The post ‘Valid For All Countries Except Israel’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US, Iran Set for Second Round of Nuclear Talks as Iranian FM Warns Against ‘Unrealistic Demands’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal could be reached during Saturday’s second round of nuclear negotiations in Rome if the United States does not make “unrealistic demands.”
In a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Araghchi said that Washington showed “partial seriousness” during the first round of nuclear talks in Oman last week.
The Iranian top diplomat traveled to Moscow on Thursday to deliver a letter from Iran’s so-called Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, briefing Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ongoing nuclear talks with the White House.
“Their willingness to enter serious negotiations that address the nuclear issue only, without entering into other issues, can lead us towards constructive negotiations,” Araghchi said during the joint press conference in Moscow on Friday.
“As I have said before, if unreasonable, unrealistic and impractical demands are not made, an agreement is possible,” he continued.
Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military actions, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb the country’s nuclear activities.
On Tuesday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program” — reversing his earlier comments, in which he indicated that the White House would allow Tehran to enrich uranium to a 3.67 percent threshold for a “civil nuclear program.”
During the press conference, Araghchi also announced he would attend Saturday’s talks in Rome, explaining that negotiations with the US are being held indirectly due to recent threats and US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Indirect negotiations are not something weird and an agreement is within reach through this method,” Araghchi said.
He also indicated that Iran expects Russia to play a role in any potential agreement with Washington, noting that the two countries have held frequent and close consultations on Tehran’s nuclear program in the past.
“We hope Russia will play a role in a possible deal,” Araghchi said during the press conference.
As an increasingly close ally of Iran, Moscow could play a crucial role in Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with the West, leveraging its position as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a signatory to a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that imposed limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018.
Since then, even though Tehran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon, the UN’s nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – has warned that Iran has “dramatically” accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level and enough to build six nuclear bombs.
During the press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that “Russia is ready to facilitate the negotiation process between Iran and the US regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.”
Moscow has previously said that any military strike against Iran would be “illegal and unacceptable.”
Russia’s diplomatic role in the ongoing negotiations could also be important, as the country has recently solidified its growing partnership with the Iranian regime.
On Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament ratified a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Iran, strengthening military ties between the two countries.
Despite Tehran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
The post US, Iran Set for Second Round of Nuclear Talks as Iranian FM Warns Against ‘Unrealistic Demands’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Reps. Dan Goldman and Chris Smith Issue Statement Condemning Shapiro Arson Attack As ‘Textbook Antisemitism’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) holds a rally in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential election campaign in Ambler, Pennsylvania, US, July 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Smith (D-NJ) issued a statement condemning the recent arson attack against Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) as a form of “textbook antisemitism.”
“Governor Shapiro is the Governor of Pennsylvania and has nothing to do with Israel’s foreign policy, yet he was targeted as an American Jew by a radicalized extremist who blames the Governor for Israel’s actions. That is textbook antisemitism,” the statement read.
Shapiro’s residence, the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, was set ablaze on Sunday morning, hours after the governor hosted a gathering to celebrate the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Shapiro said that he, his wife, and his children were awakened by state troopers knocking on their door at 2 am. The governor and his family immediately evacuated the premises and were unscathed.
Goldman and Smith added that the arson attack against Shapiro serves as “a bitter reminder that persecution of Jews continues.” The duo claimed that they “strongly condemn this antisemitic violence” and called on the suspect to “be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pennsylvania State Police said that the suspect, Cody Balmer set fire to Shapiro’s residence over the alleged ongoing “injustices to the people of Palestine” and Shapiro’s Jewish faith.
According to an arrest warrant, Balmer called 911 prior to the attack and told emergency operators that he “will not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” and demanded that the governor “stop having my friends killed.”
The suspect continued, telling operators, “Our people have been put through too much by that monster.”
Balmer later revealed to police that he planned to beat Shapiro with a sledgehammer if he encountered him after gaining access into his residence, according to authorities.
He was subsequently charged with eight crimes by authorities, including serious felonies such as attempted homicide, terrorism, and arson. The suspect faces potentially 100 years in jail. He has been denied bail.
Shapiro, a practicing Jew, has positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. In the days following Hamas’s brutal slaughter of roughly 1,200 people across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Shapiro issued statements condemning the Palestinian terrorist group and gave a speech at a local synagogue. The governor also ordered the US and Pennsylvania Commonwealth flags to fly at half-mast outside the state capitol to honor the victims.
Shapiro’s strident support of the Jewish state in the wake of Oct. 7 also incensed many pro-Palestinian activists, resulting in the governor being dubbed “Genocide Josh” by far-left demonstrators.
US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) chimed in on the arson attack Thursday, urging the Justice Department to launch a federal investigation, claiming that the incident could be motivated by antisemitism.
Schumer argued that the arson attack targeting Shapiro, who is Jewish, left the Pennsylvania governor’s family in “anguish” and warned that it could serve as an example of “rising antisemitic violence” within the United States. He stressed that a federal investigation and hate crime charges may be necessary to uphold the “fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety.”
Thus far, Shapiro has refused to blame the attack on antisemitism, despite the suspect’s alleged comments repudiating the governor over his support for Israel. The governor has stressed the importance of allowing prosecutors to determine whether the attack constitutes a hate crime.
The post Reps. Dan Goldman and Chris Smith Issue Statement Condemning Shapiro Arson Attack As ‘Textbook Antisemitism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.