Commentary
Earlier this month, the Fraser Institute published the results of a commissioned
poll, conducted by Leger, that sought to know how Ontario parents of children in schools—both public and private—in grades K–12 felt about the teaching of controversial issues. Their 1,000 survey participants, both heritage and new Canadians, projected a strong and uniform set of values.
Nine in ten of the participants believe teachers and the provincial curriculum should “focus on providing students with facts, and a learning environment within which students can openly explore facts.” On controversial issues, 77 percent of parents “strongly agree or somewhat agree” that teachers should either present both sides of controversial issues or none. The poll’s conclusion was that parents overwhelmingly “value balance over bias in classrooms.”
Although the Middle East conflict was not mentioned in the Fraser Institute report, all Canadians would agree that “controversial” is an understatement for the heated fallout in the West, including Canada, from the Oct. 7 pogrom in southern Israel. Jews in Canada are bearing the brunt of the emotional turbulence. Anti-Semitism accounts for
almost half of Toronto’s alleged 187 hate crimes reported in 2024.
The last thing most Canadian parents want for their children is a school program dedicated to propaganda-led attacks against Israel and, by extension, Jews. But, to the despair of Jewish parents, that is precisely what the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) on June 19 voted, 15–7, to entrench in their curriculum.
At a June 5 board meeting, the TDSB presented, under the rubric of “Combatting Hate and racism,” a
2024 update from previous iterations of their program that brought “anti-Palestinian racism” (APR) under its umbrella. One worrisome sign, however, was that the board meeting included representatives from the fringes of the Jewish community, whose views are completely incongruent with those of the mainstream Jewish community. One such person is a Holocaust-trivializing spokesman who has expressed skepticism about Israeli women being raped by Hamas during their Oct. 7 pogrom. Another urged the board to shun the voices of formal Jewish community organizations, such as
B’nai Brith, the
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the
Simon Weisenthal Centre, organizations that—if the board was operating in good faith—would have been invited to participate as a matter of course.
Another issue at the meeting was the board’s failure to define APR. Alleged hate crimes against Muslims are reported by the police, but there isn’t a sub-category for Palestinians. So there is no data on which to base such a claim.
The TDSB’s own data says that Oct. 7 resulted in a tripling of anti-Semitic incidents in their schools—some quite chilling, with threats of violence and #killtheJews graffiti. We should be wary of exceptionalizing an alleged hate problem that is not backed by data and is conjured up by special-interest lobbying (according to the report, APR was added “in response to student and community voices”).
Many parents were understandably concerned about the materials that would be used for the program. Aaron Kucharczuk, the co-founder of
Jewish Educators and Family Association of Canada (JEFA), told the National Post, “The only definition of anti-Palestinian racism that I’ve seen … says denying the Nakba or trying to exclude Palestinian narratives is a form of anti-Palestinian racism.” The Nakba, “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the exodus of 700,000 Palestinians at the start of the newly independent Israel’s defensive war for survival against five combined Arab forces.
JEFA’s fears are well-founded. In February, TDSB high school teachers attended a
professional development program, hosted by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. The session, titled “Anti-Palestinian Racism: Nakba Denial” (a purposeful analogy to “Holocaust denial,” acknowledged as a form of anti-Semitism), included a description of the Nakba as “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the consolidation of the State of Israel in 1948.” Objective research
shows the lack of truth in this statement, which even anti-Israel forces regard as their “narrative,” not settled history. In the presentation, Israel was charged as well with apartheid and settler-colonialism, similarly regarded as libels by objective historians.
The TDSB is not the only Ontario board that has singled out anti-Israel demands for special deference. The Peel School Board added
Nakba Remembrance Day to its “Days of Significance” calendar in advance of the 2023–24 school year. Since Holocaust Remembrance Day is already on the calendar, the addition tacitly implies that there is an equivalence between the two events. But Holocaust denial is a rejection of ineluctable historical fact, while alleged Nakba “denial” is merely dissent from the
opinion regarding historical facts. There is no moral or historical equivalence between them.
Further, any Nakba program or “day” will launder as acceptable certain pernicious assumptions inextricably bound up with Nakba, which we have all seen reified in demonstrations and on social media: notably, “Free Palestine,” code for the erasure of the Jewish state by violent means, and expressed hatred of Zionism—and increasingly, Jews—as understandable. Any official Nakba-themed program in school classrooms is an endorsement of a political movement that is inherently anti-Semitic.
Then-Education Minister Stephen Lecce took exception to the Peel decision,
stating, “After the horrifying events on Oct. 7, I made my expectations clear to all school boards that there is no room for influence of personal opinions or personal world views in Ontario classrooms.” He added, “At a time when so many Canadians are divided, it is critical that schools bring people together, not further divide our society and students. The Peel District School Board should reverse their decision and leave politics outside of the classroom.”
These are fine words, but it is time that the government put some muscle behind them. As the Fraser Institute report makes crystal clear, Ontario parents want schools to teach facts, not interpretations of fact; provide a safe environment for open discussion; offer both sides of controversies, or neither; and above all, to provide “balance,” not “bias,” in the classroom.
These common-sense objectives should be entrenched as pedagogical principles in the Ontario school system. They should be issued as directives to school boards, with any proposed programs subject to a Facts/Safety/Fairness/Balance (FSFB) analysis for approval by the education minister before adoption.
Neither the proposed “Anti-Palestinian Racism” program nor the Nakba Day passes the smell test. They will encourage more anti-Semitism. The government must end them.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
