Canada’s Jewish Community Under Siege: Holocaust Memorial Defaced in Ottawa, Jewish Protection Group Rises in Response (Exclusive Interivew)

On June 9, 2025, the Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa—just steps from Parliament Hill and the Canadian War Museum—was defaced with red paint in what appears to be yet another act of anti-Jewish hate. Despite the area being blanketed with surveillance cameras and cell tower stingray devices that capture real-time mobile data, no suspect has been identified. And no motive, we’re told, is known.

This incident comes amid a disturbing surge in anti-Jewish violence and harassment across Canada since the October 7 Hamas massacre. Jewish homes and businesses have been targeted. Synagogues have been attacked. Jewish schools have been shot at and set on fire, and busses taking Jewish children to schools have been burned to the ground in Toronto. Radical leftists and Islamic supremacists have aligned in their public calls for “intifada” and have normalized antisemitic rhetoric in city streets, classrooms, and even government chambers.

In response, groups like Shomrim—Hebrew for “The Watchers”—have established a presence in Canada. Originally modeled after its counterpart in Toronto, the Ottawa branch is now mobilizing local Jews to defend their community in the face of rising threats.

RAIR Foundation USA was on the ground following the vandalism and spoke exclusively with Evan Green, one of the founders of Ottawa’s Shomrim. His words speak volumes about how dire the situation has become:

“We felt that the safety and security of the Jewish community in Ottawa was increasingly at risk. Even after meeting with law enforcement, everyone felt there were gaps in protection at public events, Jewish institutions, and increasingly, Jewish businesses—or even just being out in public.”

The organization, Green explains, is stepping in to fill those gaps:

“We offer self-defense classes for the Jewish community at no cost. We raise awareness about safety, provide training, and organize the community to be better prepared. We’re also training security groups at synagogues and helping people be more alert and able to respond.”

At the June 9 service held at the restored memorial, Shomrim members were stationed around the perimeter, watching every exit, standing guard as silent sentinels. Police were also present, but as Green noted:

“In this city, we are increasingly outnumbered. There have been some events where Jews have been at risk or physically hurt. Our role is to help the community be secure—and secure itself.”

That such a grassroots Jewish defense force is now necessary in Canada’s capital should alarm every citizen. This is not “a response to the conflict overseas.” This is imported antisemitic hatred—fermented by years of government cowardice, official immigration policy, and ideological indoctrination.

What happened on June 9 was not simple vandalism; it was a deliberate act of destruction. It was a symbolic act of intimidation, an act of ideological terror meant to send a message. A red warning, both literal and figurative: that Jews in Canada are once again being hunted. And in the face of this escalating hatred, Ottawa’s political class remains silent.

That silence echoed during the solemn gathering at the memorial. It was broken only by the words of Lawrence Greenspon, a prominent Ottawa civil rights lawyer who opened the ceremony. Greenspon, notably, also served as defense counsel for Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, the most aggressively prosecuted figures from the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest against Canada’s authoritarian COVID mandates, especially the coercive push for mRNA injections.

His presence was a quiet reminder: in a country where the state targets peaceful protesters and ignores antisemitic hate, courage and truth must come from outside the halls of power.

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