TORONTO – The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said Tuesday that the Elementary Teachersโ Federation of Ontarioโs recent vote to develop resources addressing so-called Anti-Palestinian Racism is divisive and risks deepening an already serious problem of antisemitism in Ontario schools.
CIJA pointed to a federal report commissioned by Canadaโs Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism that surveyed Jewish families and documented 781 antisemitic incidents in Ontario K-12 schools.
The report is based on a survey of 599 Jewish parents and finds that Jewish students are experiencing a wide range of hostility, including bullying, exclusion, and incidents involving staff.
Josh Landau, CIJAโs director of government relations for Ontario, said the federationโs motion โpromoting the concept of Anti-Palestinian Racismโ risks conflating political debate about Israel with racism and could label basic expressions of Jewish identity or support for Israel as discriminatory.
He urged that any framework implemented in schools must align with the Ontario Human Rights Code. โAny efforts to introduce and implement a concept that fails to align with existing human rights legislation, particularly the Ontario Human Rights Code, must be firmly rejected,โ Landau said in CIJAโs statement.
ETFO delegates passed a motion at their annual meeting calling for a pedagogical resource to affirm Palestinian identity, address anti-Palestinian racism, and teach Palestinian history.
The action was introduced by an ETFO local and won broad support from delegates, according to union materials and social posts from the conference. Supporters said the resource is intended to create safe, inclusive classrooms for Palestinian students.
The resolution won public praise from groups advocating for Palestinian rights. The Anti-Racism Program of the Centre for Jewish Progress and Middle East (ARPCF) described the motion as an important step toward recognizing anti-Palestinian racism as a specific barrier to equity in education and welcomed ETFOโs commitment to develop classroom materials. โThis resolution marks a significant shift toward recognizing anti-Palestinian racism as a systemic barrier to equity in education,โ the group said.
CIJA said support for protections against discrimination for Arab and Muslim Canadians is unequivocal. The organization framed its objection narrowly: it opposes definitions and applications of APR that, in CIJAโs view, stretch beyond provincial human rights law and risk silencing Jewish students and staff who express identity or views that are pro-Israel.
โWhat is concerning here is that many of the proposed definitions and categories associated with APR go well beyond the scope of the Ontario Human Rights Code.โ
Jewish community groups expressed alarm at the timing of the motion. CIJA and other community advocates noted the federal reportโs findings that nearly half of reported incidents in schools were not investigated and that some incidents involved staff. They argued that educational authorities should prioritize addressing antisemitism as documented in the federal survey before adopting new categories that could blur legal protections.
ETFO officials said the resource is intended to help teachers create inclusive classrooms and address the needs of Palestinian students. The unionโs public materials indicate delegates voted in favour of developing age-appropriate tools for educators to address and prevent anti-Palestinian racism. ETFO did not provide immediate comment beyond its AGM reporting.
The dispute highlights a broader debate over how schools should confront competing claims of discrimination and identity. Legal experts note that Ontario schools and unions must operate within the Ontario Human Rights Code and that any new educational materials should be carefully reviewed to ensure they do not conflict with existing human rights frameworks or inadvertently marginalize other protected groups.
CIJA said it remains open to constructive measures that protect all students. But the organization made clear it will oppose any implementation that, in its view, dilutes protections for Jewish students or recasts ordinary expressions of Jewish life as violations.
โAt a time of rising levels of antisemitism in schools, it is troubling that ETFO has chosen to align itself with a concept that risks further marginalizing Jewish voices and endangering Jewish students,โ Landau said.
This article is based on verified information from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the federal report Antisemitism in Ontarioโs K-12 Schools (Office of the Special Envoy), the Elementary Teachersโ Federation of Ontario, the Anti-Racism Program of the CJPME Foundation, and Bโnai Brith Canada.