Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt said people were inside the Schara Tzedeck synagogue on Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 Oak Street after services around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday when they heard a 91裸聊视频渂ang91裸聊视频� outside.

But it was a passerby who alerted them that their building was on fire, before a member of the synagogue put out the flames with his jacket, said Rosenblatt while pointing to the scorched front door on Friday morning.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver said the fire was an arson attack, caused 91裸聊视频渂y an individual who poured fuel on the front doors and set them on fire.91裸聊视频�

It earlier said the damage was due to an 91裸聊视频渋ncendiary device.91裸聊视频�

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attack a 91裸聊视频渄isgusting act of antisemitism.91裸聊视频�

Vancouver police said the case was being investigated as an act of arson and a possible hate crime.

There was a strong smell of burning inside the synagogue Friday, but the charring did not appear to have made it far inside the front doors.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e glad we didn91裸聊视频檛 wake up to a pile of ashes,91裸聊视频� Rosenblatt said outside the building.

He said he was told the flames reached the second storey of the synagogue before being put out.

Rosenblatt said he was struck that there was no attempt to make the attack 91裸聊视频渃landestine.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淪omebody decided it was OK to just walk up these stairs,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淵ou could have picked a spot on the back of the synagogue.91裸聊视频�

He said the attack showed there was a 91裸聊视频渘ew permission structure91裸聊视频� about how Jewish people were treated in Canada.

91裸聊视频淢y grandfather was the cantor of a synagogue that burned down on Kristallnacht,91裸聊视频� he said, referring to the 1938 pogrom against Jews in Nazi Germany.

91裸聊视频淚 thought he was the last rabbi in our family to have to deal with a synagogue that was going to be torched. I guess I was mistaken.91裸聊视频�

The federation said in a statement posted online that the damage to Schara Tzedeck synagogue was minor and no one was hurt.

It called the incident a 91裸聊视频渄eliberate act of hate91裸聊视频� and an 91裸聊视频渁ttempt to intimidate91裸聊视频� the Jewish community.

Trudeau said on social media platform X: 91裸聊视频淎 synagogue in Vancouver was attacked last night in another disgusting act of antisemitism. We cannot let this hate or these acts of violence stand. This is not the Canada we want to be.91裸聊视频�

Canada91裸聊视频檚 special envoy for combating antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, called it 91裸聊视频渉orrible news91裸聊视频� and said on social media that 91裸聊视频渋ncendiary rhetoric leads to incendiary violence.91裸聊视频�

The Jewish federation said the Vancouver Police Department and a fire inspector searched the building before declaring it safe to be reopened.

Vancouver police said in a statement that authorities have 91裸聊视频渕obilized additional officers to Jewish community centres, schools, and religious institutions.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭his fire was intentionally set at a place of worship for the Jewish community,91裸聊视频� Const. Tania Visintin said in a statement. 91裸聊视频淲hile we collect evidence to identify the person responsible, we91裸聊视频檙e also working closely with faith leaders and community members to ensure everyone91裸聊视频檚 safety.91裸聊视频�

She added: 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e doing everything in our power to solve this crime, while providing reassurance, comfort, and safety to the community.91裸聊视频�

A police car and officers were outside the synagogue on Friday morning.

The federation said extra police patrols were being put in place at local Jewish institutions.

The incident comes after bullet holes were found at two Jewish schools in Montreal and Toronto in recent days. Nobody was hurt in either incident.

Lyons said on social media that it is 91裸聊视频減ast time to stand up91裸聊视频� against the incidents.

91裸聊视频淭hree Jewish institutions in three major cities this week have been attacked, and more over the months since Hamas91裸聊视频檚 horrific massacre on Oct. 7. There is no excuse for silence or inaction,91裸聊视频� she said.

She said the law must be enforced and 91裸聊视频渋ncidents of hate91裸聊视频� could not go unanswered.

91裸聊视频淚t means that incitement and violent rhetoric must be met with consequences. It means that capitulation to unreasonable or threatening demands must end.91裸聊视频�

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, an outspoken voice against antisemitism, called on his party to change the Criminal Code in response to the rash of violent incidents targeting Jewish gathering places.

91裸聊视频淎t this point, condemnation is not enough,91裸聊视频� Housefather said in a speech to the House of Commons Friday, citing the incidents in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

91裸聊视频淎ll levels of government need to do more, immediately.91裸聊视频�

He suggested creating safe zones around schools and places of worship where protests are not allowed, just as the government did for hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea was also floated in Toronto months ago by a local city councillor.

Housefather also called for the group Samidoun and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran91裸聊视频檚 military, to be labelled as terrorist groups.

The foreign affairs minister has asked Public Safety Canada to explore the possibility of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, but Trudeau raised concerns it would punish Canadians who were drafted into Iran91裸聊视频檚 military by force.

Housefather91裸聊视频檚 comments were met with a standing ovation in the House.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement saying it was 91裸聊视频渁ppalled by last night91裸聊视频檚 violent attack against a Vancouver synagogue.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭his marks the third such incident in the past six days in Canada, following shootings at Jewish schools in Toronto and Montreal. This comes as the country continues to experience surging anti-Jewish incidents since the Hamas atrocities in Israel last October.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淎bsolutely appalled by last night91裸聊视频檚 violent attack against a Vancouver synagogue,91裸聊视频� centre president Michael Levitt said on X, adding, 91裸聊视频渨hen is enough, enough?91裸聊视频�

B.C. Premier David Eby issued a statement condemning the incident, which he described as an 91裸聊视频渁rson attack.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭his disguising act of antisemitism is reprehensible (and) has absolutely no place in B.C.,91裸聊视频� the statement said, adding Eby was relieved to hear no one was hurt.

Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed said on X that he was 91裸聊视频渇urious91裸聊视频� to hear about the incident in his riding, which encompasses the synagogue.

91裸聊视频淭here is no justification for a synagogue to be attacked. None,91裸聊视频� he said.