Police make arrests

Richmond RCMP officers have arrested two male suspects in the anti-Semitic incident that took place April 15 at Beth Tikvah Synagogue.

Beth Tikvah was defaced with graffiti that included racial slurs and swastikas on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. The suspects – two minors, aged 15 and 17 – are scheduled to make their first court appearance in mid-May. Beth Tikvah Rabbi Claudio Kaiser-Blueth told the Independent that he was not surprised to discover that the alleged perpetrators were teenagers.

"It's not going to be the last time," he predicted. "[I'm] sad to say that - it's a horrible statement - but it's the truth. What are we doing with the kids? We're teaching millions of things in our schools and the society, but not the essence of how to be a mensch ... to be decent human beings."

In a news release Monday, Canadian Jewish Congress Pacific Region commended the RCMP and the British Columbia Hate Crimes Team on the arrest.

Pointing to the presence of security cameras at Beth Tikvah, which were instrumental in making the arrests, CJCPR chair Mark Weintraub noted, "this reaffirms the Jewish community's long-held belief that security cameras can be an aid to police and a deterrent for racist hate crimes such as these. We call on the federal government to support 'at-risk' communities by providing the needed financial resources to equip [them]."