WINNIPEG, Canada — Police and Jewish community organizations across multiple countries reported more than 10 antisemitic incidents over the past weekend and into the start of the week, as Jewish leaders and officials warned that repeated acts of intimidation are straining communal safety and testing public resolve.
In Canada, Winnipeg Police said they opened a hate crime investigation after swastikas were spray-painted on the façade of Congregation Shaarey Zedek early Friday, Jan. 2, just hours before Shabbat services. Local reporting described the graffiti as a targeted attempt to intimidate worshippers.
In a statement shared publicly by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and reported by Global News, Senior Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose said, “We call on all Winnipeggers to stand up against hate.”
Winnipeg’s Jewish community also faced additional disruptions days later. As we first reported, police investigated a “suspicious item” at the same synagogue on Sunday, with authorities providing limited public details while confirming a response at the site. Separately, a swastika was found at Kelvin High School, prompting another police investigation and school division communication to families.
In the United States, officials in multiple jurisdictions reported threats and vandalism directed at Jewish institutions. In Hawaii, police determined a bomb threat emailed to the Jewish Congregation of Maui in Kihei was a hoax and a financial scam, after the synagogue reported an email claiming a bomb was on the property.
Hawaii News Now quoted synagogue president Jessica Pearl describing the response: “We acted really seriously,” and said police cleared the area after the message was received. The same reporting cited broader concern about a “nationwide threat campaign,” referencing additional synagogues reportedly targeted in similar Bitcoin extortion-style messages.
In Florida, local station WWSB reported a bomb threat was investigated at Temple Shalom on Jan. 1, with law enforcement sweeping the area and locating no device. In Pennsylvania, NBC Philadelphia reported that racist and antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas, was painted overnight at Roxborough High School, drawing condemnation from city officials and school leadership.
In Germany, an arson attack targeting the home property of Brandenburg’s antisemitism commissioner was reported this week, drawing condemnation from Jewish leaders and antisemitism monitors. The Jerusalem Post reported Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, called it “an extremely disturbing and alarming event,” noting the target was an official tasked with combating antisemitism.
In the United Kingdom, ITV News Granada reported that a memorial bench dedicated to a Holocaust survivor was destroyed in what was described as an apparent antisemitic act, as police and community leaders treated the damage as a suspected hate crime. A separate report from the Combat Antisemitism Movement said an audio memorial to a Holocaust survivor in Greater Manchester was vandalized and was being treated as a suspected hate crime.
In Spain, the Combat Antisemitism Movement reported that complaints led to the takedown of a website that had been blacklisting Jewish and “Zionist” businesses in Catalonia, a development Jewish groups warned could inflame harassment and potential violence.
Australia remained on heightened alert following the Dec. 14, 2025, antisemitic terror attack at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, and the country’s prime minister announced a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion on Jan. 8, citing the need to examine the “nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism” alongside the circumstances of the attack.
Across the incidents, the pattern was consistent: police responses, community security reviews, and public appeals for witnesses, coupled with renewed calls from Jewish organizations for governments to treat antisemitic intimidation as a sustained public safety challenge rather than isolated acts.
