Is anti-Semitism on the rise in Canada?

A column in the Epoch Times Thursday raises alarms about the increase of anti-Semitic incidents in Canada.

Last week a giant swastika was carved into the side of hill at Edmonton's Castle Downs Park. A 2010 study by B'nai Birth Canada found there has been a five-fold increase in incidents like this over the past 10 years.

Approximately 1,306 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in 2010, including 965 cases of harassment, 317 cases of vandalism and 24 cases of violence.

The study notes global influences often supersede purely Canadian triggers of anti-semitism.

"When a leading Greek priest, in an interview on the largest TV station in Greece, blames Jews for his country's financial problems, one has to ask what influence this might have on members of the Greek diaspora here in Canada," the report says.

"This type of propaganda has the capacity to colour the opinions of a wide range of Canadians."

A 2010 study by Tel Aviv University also found anti-Semitic incidents have also been on the rise internationally due in part to the Israeli government's military operation against Hamas which triggered global anti-Semitic sentiment.

Lawmakers in this country are paying attention.

In 2009, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism was formed to develop strategies for confronting and combating anti-Semitism in Canada.

The committee's report, released in July, recommends the government do more to tackle hate crimes.

Among these recommendations are the training of police forces across Canada in how better to deal with anti-Semitism, guidelines for universities to counter anti-Semitic events and the adoption of a clear and concise definition of what anti-Semitism entails.

Despite growing concerns, Johnaton Kay of the National Post recently wrote a column about how anti-Semitic stories are sometimes blown out of proportion and in some cases are just not true.

On Monday, Kay's email box was flooded with emails about a York University professor who apparently told his class, "I have an opinion that people will find offensive. Jews need to be sterilized."

The professor in question — who happens to be Jewish — actually was using hyperbole to illustrate the sort of vile opinion ("Jews need to be sterilized") he didn't want to hear aired in his classroom.

"Thanks to the dense electronic civil society that binds together Jewish study groups, synagogue congregations and pro-Israel NGOs — call it "Bubbie-and-Zayde-Net" — any story involving anti-Semitism tends to spread like wildfire," wrote Kay.

"It's time to stop the cycle of e-hysteria."