Lesley Wood
Lesley Wood was arrested in November 2023 for vandalizing a Jewish-owned business during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.
On November 22, 2023, Lesley Wood was arrested and charged with “mischief over $5000” and “conspiracy to commit an indictable offence,” according to records obtained from the Toronto Police Service Hate Crime Unit.
The incident occurred at the Indigo bookstore in Toronto during Israel’s war against Hamas. Israel launched the war after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks. Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, injured thousands and kidnapped hundreds more that day. For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
On November 27, 2023, The Globe and Mail reported that Lesley Wood was one of three other York University (York) employees who "have been placed on leave from their jobs after they were charged in connection with hate-motivated mischief over the defacing of a Toronto Indigo bookstore."
On November 30, 2023, Wood posted on her personal website about her arrest: "I, like others charged, have been suspended from my position at the university."
As of March 2025, Lesley Wood was listed on York website as a professor in the Department of Sociology. York is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In November 2023, during Israel's war against the Hamas terror group, 11 anti-Israel agitators were arrested after vandalizing a branch of the Indigo bookstore in Toronto, Ontario. Agitators defaced the building with red paint and plastered posters accusing Indigo's Jewish founder and pro-Israel philanthropist, Heather Reisman, of "funding genocide."
Police charged the suspects with "hate-motivated mischief," "conspiracy to commit an indictable offense" and "criminal harassment," reporting that they “engaged in threatening conduct that caused a person to reasonably fear for their personal safety.”
Indigo Books & Music is a chain with branches across Canada.
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.
BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.
The movement’s most notable achievement has been infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents and pro-terror activism on campus.