Trudeau says no tolerance for anti-Semitism after attacks on Canadian synagogues

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Tuesday a recent wave of attacks on synagogues.

"Sending my full support to the Canadian Jewish community," Trudeau wrote on Twitter. "These recent acts of hatred & anti-Semitism have no place in our country and we will not tolerate it."

Synagogues in Montreal and Toronto -- Canada's two largest cities -- and elsewhere received threatening anti-Semitic messages at the start of Hanukkah, sources said Tuesday.

In Montreal, two synagogues alerted police "about the threats," said police spokesman Benoit Boisselle, adding that a "hate crime" investigation has been launched.

Four other synagogues in Toronto, others in Kingston and Hamilton, Ontario; and another in Edmonton, Alberta received anti-Semitic messages saying the "Jewry must perish" alongside a swastika and a bleeding star of David, according to the Canadian branch of B'nai Brith.

"Sadly, we've seen the swastika make something of a comeback this year, defacing the walls of high schools, university campuses, and public property," said the group's president Michael Mostryn.

"Today, it is more imperative than ever that we condemn this symbol of racism and hatred."

Mosques in Canada have also recently been desecrated, and extreme right-wing groups in Quebec have marched to protest against immigration.