Ottawa youth charged with 'terrorism' offences for alleged targeting of Jews

Police in Ottawa charged a juvenile with “terrorism” offences for allegedly targeting the Jewish community on Saturday, amid worries of escalating antisemitism from the Middle East war.

The suspect was charged with “facilitation of a terrorist activity by communicating instructional material related to an explosive substance” and “knowingly instructing, directly or indirectly, a person to carry out a terrorist activity against Jewish persons,” according to a statement issued by officials on Saturday.

On the social networking platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe stated that “there has been a rise in anti-semitism in Ottawa in recent weeks.”

According to the statement, the arrest took place on Friday and involves the collaboration of numerous Canadian security services.

Police said the youth’s age prevented further release of information about the suspect or the plot.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Policed noted it was seeing a concerning trend of violent extremism and “terrorist use of the internet, including amongst young persons.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned about a marked rise in antisemitism in Canada following Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza that the local health ministry says has killed nearly 19,000.

The number of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, spiked significantly since the start of the Gaza conflict, authorities said in November. Officials across the world have also warned about a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia due to the war.