Police release video of alleged hate crime in Vancouver coffee shop

Vancouver police are investigating a potential hate crime after a woman spat on a stranger in a coffee shop on Feb.26.

Police say a 38-year-old Vancouver man and his friends were playing cards in a cafnear West Fourth Avenue and Alma Street when a woman approached them around 10:45 p.m. PT.

VPD Const. Tania Visintin says the woman initially engaged in friendly conversation but allegedly made racial comments after hearing the group speak Arabic.

The woman is also alleged to have poured coffee on the group's table before coming back to spit in the victim's face.

"This kind of assault is humiliating and degrading," said Visintin."Every indication is that the victim was singled out because of his language and ethnicity."

She adds police arereleasing video and images of the woman in hopes of identifying her. They're also asking anyone with information to get in touch with them.

'Marginalized and othered'

The alleged incident follows reports byB.C.'shuman rights commissioner of a rise in hate in the wake of the pandemic.

Jad El Tal, the director of research and policy at the Canadian Arab Institute, says this is one of many incidents related to an increase in anti-Arab hate.

"Based on data [the Institute has] collected we've seen the rise in hate crimes against Arabs and a lack of understanding of who Arabs are and what Arab culture is," he said, adding that anti-Arab hate is different from Islamophobia, given nearly half of the world's Arab population follows religions other than Islam.

Arab people speak Arabic and have ethnic origins in 23 countries, including Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco.

El Tal says Arabic-speaking people are Canada's fastest-growing immigrant group and a "newcomer-heavy population."

He fears many Arab people, especially newcomers, don't report hate crimes in the formofmicroaggression or verbal abuse.

"The way some community members deal with it is to just stay silent because they don't know what avenues they can access to combat that type of hate.

"We just feel marginalized and othered when these incidents happen, especially if it has to do with our own culture, our own language, our names, our food, things that remind us of where we come from."

El Tal says discrimination can be reduced if other Canadians challenge thestereotypes.

"It's best to not be a bystander when you see someone being discriminated against. If you feel like you are in a safe place to speak up, please do,"he said.

Nearly 694,015 people identify as Arab in Canada,with 28,010 living in B.C., according to 2021 census data from Statistics Canada.