The Degeneration of Canada's Social Order

 

"Children are scared to go to school. Families are scared to send their kids to school."

"They're being vilified because of their ethnic and religious identity, and to be quite frank, the response from the school board has been weak and in many cases non-existent."

"In an environment where children are not properly educated on what antisemitism is and how it can manifest in different ways, kids are not going to understand what that looks like, and they can fall victim to propaganda and hate."

"I think what was most concerning is hearing comments by teachers."

Sharon Aschaiek, York Region District School Board parent, family and community engagement advisory committee 

"A group of boys told [my daughter] she will be their Jewish sex slave one day as she is a terrorist and will be treated as such."

"She comes home from school crying every day."

Unidentified mother of York Region Jewish student responding to survey

A recent survey of dozens of Ontario schools suggests that huge majorities of parents worry about the safety and social isolation of Jewish students. Photo by Luke Hendry

 Jews in Canada have been surprised by a wave of viral antisemitism sweeping the country, following the October 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel by Hamas operatives and non-militant, ordinary Palestinians out of Gaza -- when 3,000 Palestinians poured over the border fence that had been breached in 30 places by explosives and tractors -- to flood through Israeli border farming communities pillaging, torching, gang-raping, torturing girls and women, in their zeal to exterminate Jews, destroy their state and claim the geography total Palestinian property.

The world's initial reaction to the horrors of sadistic savagery recorded by Hamas terrorists using body cams to post the resulting videos on social media, was swift in denouncing the terror group's atrocities. But in Canada, the very day of the bloodbath and days following, organized rallies celebrating the Hamas 'victory' over Israel ran rampant through the public sphere. The rallies were anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, calling for Palestine to be 'free, from the river to the sea', for a worldwide intefadeh, and a 'Final solution'. There was no reaction by governments at any level.

Jewish neighbourhoods became venues for 'pro-Palestinian' marches and protests where Jewish residents were harassed and threatened, and vandals defaced synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses. Criminal acts of arson and shots fired at Jewish parochial schools, community centres and synagogues failed to elicit anything beyond politicians at every level, tut-tutting the violence, claiming that 'there is no room for hate' in Canada, yet did nothing concrete to ensure that this remained true.

And in public schools, from elementary grades to the nation's academic institutions of higher learning, Jewish faculty and students were threatened while encampments were set up on campuses denying entry to Jews, whether faculty or students, teaching or attending classes. But it is the Jewish children attending elementary and high schools who are subjected to jeers, abuse, threats and pejorative language by their non-Jewish peers while teachers fail to react and on occasion themselves submit their students to their personal antisemitic values.

Dozens of Ontario schools were surveyed over the hostile environment that Jewish children now face at school. Parents of these children, concerned over safety and social isolation for their children, took part in an informal survey in mid-May. The report resulting from the informal survey was composed by Sharon Aschaiek, of the York Region District School Board parent, family and community engagement advisory committee. A total of 193 families were interviewed on their experience of antisemitism in classrooms.

The survey concluded that 82 percent of those who responded to the survey are either fearful or very fearful for Jewish students' safety at school. The area's 39 elementary schools and 12 high schools were represented by the 193 families that took part in the survey. Roughly eight percent of the 130,000 students covered by the board are Jewish. 77 percent of survey respondents were concerned that Jewish students would be socially isolated at school in reflection of their ethnic origins."My daughter is afraid to come to school by herself, she heard numerous times that 'Jews are the problem', and that they desire [a] Holocaust. She got food leftovers thrown onto her", an anonymous parent related to Aschaiek.

The tense, threatening school atmosphere has affected students to the extent that they attempt to hide their origins by no longer wearing identifying markers such as a symbolic Star of David necklace or other artefacts associated with their Jewish identity. 91 percent of respondents in the survey stated their concern over Jewish children being exposed to antisemitic graffiti at school such as swastikas. "A teacher in my daughter's English class made a comment to another student about his Jew nose. Sadly, she wasn't too affected because she just doesn't see this as shocking any more", averred one parent.

Students have been called "kikes", a traditional ethnic slur, or overheard other students giving praise to Hitler, and making the Nazi salute. The survey queried parents if they support mandatory antisemitism training for teachers, and 97 percent of respondents agreed this would be helpful. "This definition [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] makes it easier to identify and address all forms of antisemitism", parents agreed by a wide margin of 95 percent. The definition has been adopted by both the Ontario and federal governments. 

The recommendations on  how the York Region District School Board could address antisemitism included mandatory training on antisemitism for staff and the development of an anti-hate and oppression framework that includes antisemitism. Tellingly, the Toronto and District School Board passed a resolution a week ago to include the Palestinian 'Nakba' in their anti-racist school curriculum program, but turned down adding antisemitism as a counter-balance. 

Antisemitic incidents comprise 15 per cent of total incidents within the TDSB despite Jewish students making up just 3.5 per cent, according to one parent's calculations. Photo by Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press