National Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa defaced with 'feed me' graffiti

The Ottawa Police Service's hate and bias crime unit is investigating after the National Holocaust Monument was defaced with red paint.

The concrete memorial on the Kichi Zibi Mikan near Lebreton Flats was found splashed with red paint on Monday morning, including the words "feed me" painted in capital letters.

Cleaning crews from the National Capital Commission, which manages the monument, were removing the paint with pressure washers.

Iddo Moed, Israel's ambassador to Canada, decried the vandalism as antisemitic. "This is pure hate against Jews," he said Monday in an interview with CBC.

It is not known who defaced the monument or why, but the slogan appeared to be a reference to Gaza, which the United Nations on Friday described as the "hungriest place on Earth".

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in Geneva that Gaza is the only defined territory in the world where the entire population of two million people is at risk of famine.

"The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history," he said.

The UN and its partners have "tens of thousands of pallets of food and other life-saving assistance" ready to enter Gaza, but only a "trickle" has been allowed to enter, Laerke said.

"The aid has been paid for by the world's donors, who expect us on their behalf to deliver it. It is cleared for customs, it is approved and it's ready to move," he said.

Lawrence Greenspon, a prominent Ottawa defence lawyer and co-chair of the National Holocaust Monument Committee, said Israel was not at fault for the situation in Gaza.

"It's high time that the leaders of the world, including our own prime minister, stop blaming Israel for the situation in Gaza. It is not a situation that was created by Israel, nor is it one that is being continued by Israel," he said, blaming Hamas for intercepting aid to the enclave.

Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi called the defacement of the Holocaust memorial "a disgraceful, antisemitic act of vandalism."

In a post on social media, he wrote: "The National Holocaust Monument honours the memory of six million Jews and all victims of Nazi atrocities. Defacing it is not protest — it is hate, and I condemn it."

Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman called the defacement a "disgusting and cowardly act."

Posting online, she wrote: "Parliament is just steps away — that's where dissent belongs. Defacing sacred ground in honour of the millions of victims of the Holocaust in the middle of the night with spray paint isn't protest, it's vandalism. Someone this pathetic deserves to be identified and held accountable."

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a Jewish Zionist lobby group, called the graffiti vile and antisemitic.

"Since October 7, Canada's Jewish community has been under siege — and too often, we're told this isn't about Jews, it's about Israel. But this? This doesn't feel like it's about Israel," CIJA's media director Nicole Amiel wrote in an email, referencing the 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.