Extra police being deployed to Vancouver menorah lighting after Bondi Beach attack

A Vancouver Police Department patch is seen in Vancouver on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

After a mass shooting in Australia that is being condemned as an act of antisemitic terrorism, the Vancouver Police Department is deploying extra officers to a downtown menorah lighting Sunday.

The department issued a statement after 16 people were killed and 38 injured on Sydney’s Bondi Beach at a Hanukkah celebration, expressing condolences and providing some details about how they are responding to safety concerns locally.

“Following today’s attack in Australia, our thoughts are with those affected and the communities impacted,” the statement said.

“We will be providing additional resources to ensure safety in the community, including the menorah lighting tonight at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres will also have added police protection.”

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, a senior rabbi at Temple Sholom in Vancouver, said he was horrified to hear what happened, but was not surprised.

“We have been seeing a growing uptick in the boldness, the degree of violence, that has been targeting our community,” he said.

Moskovitz added, it was soul-crushing that such violence took place while the Australian Jewish community celebrated the first night of Hannukah, a festival of light.

“People should be able to celebrate their holidays and their cultures and freedom and safety and security – full stop, regardless of their religion, regardless of their identities,” he said.

Moskovitz said, the Vancouver Police Department have contacted the synagogue, and that Temple Sholom has its own professional security.

“One of the realities of being a Jew in Canada is that you don’t walk into a synagogue or a Jewish community institution without security guards present,” he said.

“I’d like people to think about that for a moment, because my children have never walked into a synagogue without a security guard. I think most people in Canada have never walked into a place of worship or a community center with a security guard, but that’s the reality of being a Jew in Canada.”

B.C. Premier David Eby also issued a statement, expressing outrage and solidarity.

“I am appalled by the mass shooting in Australia and the targeted murder of Jewish people. This was antisemitic violence, plain and simple,” he wrote.

“On this first night of Chanukah, we stand united with the Jewish community in B.C. and around the world, and the mourn the innocent lives lost.”