OTTAWA, Dec 16, 2023 (AFP) – Canadian federal police on Saturday charged an Ottawa youth with directing terrorist activities against Jewish people, and giving instructions on explosives.
The accused, because of their young age, cannot be identified under Canadian law. No details were released.
In a statement, police said they were monitoring a “concerning trend of violent extremism and terrorist use of the Internet.”
Global News reported that an explosives team was sent to the site of Friday’s arrest.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an advocacy group representing Jewish organizations across Canada, said on X, formerly Twitter, it was thankful authorities were “able to foil the threat and that no one was hurt.”
Since #October7, the Jewish community has been raising our extreme concerns about the frightening rise in antisemitic incitement and hatred in #Canada ⁰⁰This is a staggering development of what unchecked #Antisemitism has become in our country.
It is also particularly… pic.twitter.com/2bxwd0pny6
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) December 16, 2023
Tensions have spiked in Canada over the Israel-Hamas war — with gunshots fired at Jewish schools, and other institutions firebombed in recent weeks.
Several countries around the word, notably in Europe, have seen attacks on Jewish targets increase amid the intense Israeli strikes on Gaza in response to the bloody October 7 attack by militants of the Palestinian group Hamas.
