An act of vandalism that targeted the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa was an antisemitic attack, the co-chair of the monument committee said Monday.
The words "FEED ME" were found scrawled in red paint across the face of the monument Monday morning. Red paint was splashed on other portions of the monument as well.
Crews covered parts of the monument in black plastic as they worked to remove the paint.
"My father is a Holocaust survivor. His sister and his mother and father were all killed. My daughter is named after his sister," said Lawrence Greenspon, co-chair of the monument committee.
"When somebody defaces the National Holocaust Monument, it is personal and it hurts, and particularly when it is such an act of hatred and antisemitism."
Deborah Lyons, Canada's special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, said she was "crushed" when she saw that the monument had been vandalized.
She said that this was an antisemitic hate crime targeting Jews who have no connection to the Israeli government or its policies in Gaza.
"This is not a way to address the concerns that people have, either about what's happening in the Middle East or certainly about what's happened in our own country with the high spike of antisemitism," Lyons said.
The Ottawa Police Service said its hate and bias crime unit is leading the investigation.
When asked whether the vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime, a spokeswoman for city police said that updates will be shared when available.
Ottawa police investigated a January 2020 vandalism incident at the monument as a hate crime.
Police released photos of a suspect in that incident who allegedly threw eggs at the monument, which is dedicated to the more than six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
In a social media post Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "appalled" by the vandalism.
"This is a monument that commemorates the six million Jewish lives murdered during the Holocaust, and the millions of other victims of Nazi Germany. It is a space for mourning and remembrance," Carney said in the post.
Greenspon called on world leaders to go beyond "bland and banal" condemnations and take action against antisemitism. He also said government leaders should "stop blaming Israel for the current conflict in the Middle East" — a clear shot at Carney.
"Every time that a leader, including our own prime minister, stands with the leaders of France and Britain and condemns Israel for the situation in Gaza, it just feeds the fuels of antisemitism," Greenspon said.
He was referring to a May 19 letter Carney co-signed with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. In it, the three leaders condemned the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza and called the level of suffering in the territory "intolerable."
The letter called for the Israeli government to let more food and aid into Gaza and to end military operations there, and for Hamas to release its remaining hostages. The three leaders said they would take "concrete actions" if Israel did not comply.
Shortly after, the British government imposed sanctions on what it called a "West Bank violence network."
Canada and France have threatened targeted sanctions related to attempts to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank but have not yet followed through.
Lyons said the government has taken steps to address antisemitism and cited Carney's support for "bubble legislation" to restrict protest activities outside sensitive spaces like places of worship and schools.
"This is an effort that requires all Canadians to be engaged in fighting, I think, one of the strongest hatreds that we have ever seen Canada have to address. And if we fail at this, then we will fail at others in the future," Lyons said.
"What's happening in the Middle East has to be dealt with by people there and by the international community, but it does not help to destroy property or intimidate and harass and terrify Canadians back here at home."
Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman called the vandalism at the memorial a "disgusting and cowardly act."
"Parliament is just steps away — that’s where dissent belongs. Defacing sacred ground in honour of the millions of victims of the Holocaust in the middle of the night with spray paint isn’t protest, it’s vandalism," she said on social media.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
