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A violent antisemitic assault occurred on Friday in Montreal’s Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough, where a 32-year-old Jewish man was brutally attacked while out with his children.
The assault, which was partially captured in a 28-second video circulating on social media, shows the assailant straddling the victim and beating him. In a blatant act of hatred, the attacker then discarded the man’s kippah into a nearby splash pad area before fleeing the scene.
On August 8, 2025, in Montreal, a Jewish father was savagely beaten to the ground as his three young children watched in terror. Their screams could not stop the violence.
The children are deeply traumatized, and the father was rushed to the hospital.
Horrifying antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/fQhBCDIIEe
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 10, 2025
Montreal police launched an investigation shortly after the attack, but as of Saturday night, the perpetrator had not been apprehended.
The victim, who was dressed in traditional ultra-Orthodox attire, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital.
The act of violence, deeply troubling in its brutality and its clear antisemitic intent, has drawn widespread condemnation from political leaders across Canada.
Since the Hamas-led October 7th massacre, Canada has seen a dramatic increase in hate crimes targeting Jewish communities, with incidents nearly doubling since the start of the war. Recent reports show that despite making up only 1.4% of Canada’s population, Jewish Canadians are the target of 70% of religious hate crimes.
In response to the alarming rise in antisemitic attacks, the Canadian government has announced the formation of a National Forum on Combating Antisemitism, set to convene in February. This forum aims to bring together leaders from federal, provincial, and municipal governments, law enforcement, and community organizations to address the growing threat to public safety posed by antisemitism in Canada. While this initiative is a step in the right direction, critics argue that more concrete actions are needed.
Jeremy Levi, the mayor of Hampstead, a Montreal suburb, posted on X, “This is beyond deplorable — it is an outrage against basic human decency.”
“Weakness in leadership has emboldened brutality” in Canada, he added.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also expressed concern over the growing antisemitism in Canada, calling for stronger measures to protect Jewish communities. “These are images reminiscent of dark periods of Jewish persecution,” Sa’ar said.
