“When antisemitism rears its ugly head, we must stand to confront it,” writes Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.

By JNS

An anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sign placed outdoors in Toronto as part of a “Toronto for All” campaign was removed hours after the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center lodged a complaint with the advertising company.

The ad showed a blue Star of David and said “anti-apartheid is not antisemitism.”

On March 3, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted about the image and wording, calling the incident “incredibly disturbing.”

The Jewish organization later updated its Twitter feed, saying “we have since learned the antisemitic sign was illicitly placed without the consent” of the advertising companies Astral and BellMediaPR. “When antisemitism rears its ugly head, we must stand to confront it.”

There has been a longtime push in antisemitic circles and in the BDS movement to associate the now-defunct South African policy of apartheid with Israel and its government.

Toronto has seen its share of antisemitic incidents in recent months, including a group of people who stood in the North York neighborhood—home to a large Jewish community—on a December evening with signs that read “Free Palestine” and “Apartheid Zionist child killers.”

According to data from the Toronto Police Service, Jews were the most-targeted group for hate crimes in 2021, the most recent data available.