Montreal police are investigating a possible hate crime in which a Jewish man was punched in the face in Snowdon on Monday.
The alleged assault is just one of seven reported cases of anti-Semitism in Montreal since last weekend, a direct effect of growing tensions arising from increased violence between Israel and Gaza.
The victim of the latest attack said the tension is something that has changed his vision of what Canada stands for.
A French tourist, the man, who does not want to be identified because he fears for his safety, said he was walking out of a kosher restaurant on Queen Mary Rd. Monday, talking to his sister about Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, when two men approached them in front of the Pharmaprix drug store.
One of the men punched him.
“I didn't have the time to see his fist, his very big fist, my sister heard a noise of my face (getting hit) and my glasses fell down,” he said.
The man suffered a concussion and a fractured cheek bone.
The man is visiting his sister, her husband and their daughter, who also do not want to be identified.
They say the attacker and his friend ran away, and they believe it was a hate crime
“A person who runs away when he's asked, ‘Why did you punch him?’ is a person that he knows that he's done something wrong,” said the victim’s brother-in-law.
The attack is one of a dozen new anti-Semitic attacks reported by the Jewish rights group B'nai Brith since the weekend. Seven of those attacks were in Quebec.
The incidents come as fighting and bombing has intensified in the Gaza strip and Israel - and tensions have been evident at rallies in Montreal
WATCH: Confrontation erupts at a pro-Israel rally in Montreal
“People come out of these rallies incensed and in our estimation looking to cause damage to any Jew that they can find,” said Harvey Levine, Quebec director of B’nai Brith.
The victim's sister worries about confrontations growing in Montreal.
“Canada shouldn't import the conflict,” she said.
The manager of the Pharmaprix confirms the store did provide security camera footage to Montreal police but refused to show CTV that footage, as per company policy.
The victim said Montreal police have not taken the case seriously enough.
“My brother-in-law was with the police, and at the same time (he was) saying there are witnesses, and (they should) go (speak to police). Nobody came,” he said.
Police arrived after about 35 minutes.
They told CTV they are investigating the case as a possible hate crime.
They say the fact the victim is from France may be why officers gave the man the impression he would have a weak case in court here.
The victim had plans of moving to Canada, but has now changed his mind.
“I wanted to live in Canada,” he said. “I thought that this country is a country where everybody likes everybody.”
