OTTAWA, Ontario โ Reports that Holocaust denial quotations appeared in yearbooks at two Canadian high schools have prompted renewed discussion about how coded antisemitic messages can evade detection by students, teachers, and editors while reflecting a broader rise in antisemitism within Canadian schools.
The reported incidents have drawn attention not only because of the content itself, but because the messages reportedly passed through editorial review without being recognized as antisemitic. Experts say that this illustrates how Holocaust denial and antisemitic rhetoric increasingly appear in subtle or coded forms that are unfamiliar to many educators and school administrators.
While investigations into the yearbook incidents continue, they come against the backdrop of a broader body of research documenting an increase in antisemitic incidents in Canadian schools.
A report commissioned by the Office of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism found that Jewish parents reported 781 antisemitic incidents in Ontario K-12 schools between October 2023 and January 2025. The survey, conducted by Professor Emeritus Robert Brym, estimated that those incidents directly affected at least 10 percent of Ontario’s approximately 30,000 Jewish school-age children.
The federal report found that more than 40 percent of reported incidents involved traditional antisemitic expressions, including Nazi salutes, statements that Hitler should have “finished the job,” Holocaust denial or minimization, stereotypes about Jewish wealth or influence, and other forms of anti-Jewish hatred. Less than 60 percent of incidents were directly related to Israel or the Israel-Hamas war, suggesting that longstanding forms of antisemitism continue to persist independently of current events.
Researchers also found that nearly one in six incidents involved a teacher or a school-sanctioned activity. Nearly half of the incidents reported to school authorities were not investigated, while some parents reported that schools denied that the incidents were antisemitic or failed to take meaningful action.
The survey documented significant emotional consequences for Jewish students. The most common responses included anger, fear of returning to school, anxiety about bullying, and concern over losing friendships or becoming socially isolated. Some students reportedly concealed visible signs of their Jewish identity, including clothing and jewelry bearing Jewish symbols or Hebrew lettering, to avoid being targeted.
Experts who study antisemitism warn that coded messages often rely on historical references, slogans, quotations or numerical symbolism that may appear harmless to readers unfamiliar with extremist language. Such references can communicate approval of Holocaust denial or antisemitic conspiracy theories while remaining largely invisible to those without specialized knowledge.
The recent yearbook reports have therefore renewed calls for additional training for teachers, yearbook advisers, and school administrators responsible for reviewing student publications before they are printed.
Jewish organizations have long argued that combating contemporary antisemitism requires understanding both explicit and subtle forms of hate. They say educators should be equipped to recognize Holocaust denial, Nazi symbolism, coded language, and antisemitic stereotypes before such material reaches publication or classroom discussion.
The Brym report concludes that Ontario’s education system faces a significant gap between its stated commitment to ensuring every student feels respected and the experiences reported by many Jewish families. According to the study, approximately 16 percent of parents either moved or considered moving their children to another school because of antisemitic incidents. Jewish day schools were the most common destination for families seeking a different educational environment.
The findings have also informed discussions before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, where researchers highlighted the need for greater awareness of antisemitism in elementary and secondary schools and stronger institutional responses when incidents occur.
As investigations into the reported yearbook incidents continue, educators and Jewish community leaders say the episodes should serve as a reminder that antisemitism is not always overt. They argue that recognizing coded Holocaust denial and other subtle forms of antisemitic expression is becoming an increasingly important part of protecting students and maintaining safe learning environments.
Although the reported yearbook incidents appear to be isolated, experts say they underscore a broader challenge facing Canadian schools. As antisemitic rhetoric evolves, they argue that schools will need to strengthen both education and oversight to ensure that hateful messages, whether explicit or concealed, do not become normalized within student culture.
87 YEARS AGO….
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[https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/?a=d&d=pls19390713-01.2.84]
The Palestine Postโฉ, 13 July 1939โฉ.
THE “SETTLEMENT” IN PALESTINE – TRIUMPH FOR THE AXIS.
The intervention of the Axis – powers in Palestine and the dangers cf the so called Settlement to the interests of order and of the Empire, was recently the subject of a correspondence in the Manchester Guardian, between Rabbi J. Shachter, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Communities in Northern Ireland and Dean of Residence at the Queens University of Belfast Mr. Isa Nakhleha, director of the Arab Centre in London, and joined in , at a later point , by Dr . J . W. Slotki of Manchester.
The subject was broached by Rabbi Shachter who, in a letter to the Editor on June 21, referred to the recent visit of Khalid al Hud , of Saudi Arabia, to Herr Hitler, and the Nazi expressions of sincere sympathy with the Arabs, as affording further proof that the Government’s Palestinian settlement amounted to playing dangerously into the hands of the Totalitarian States. The White Paper enjoyed not only the approval of the Axis Powers , it was hailed as a great triumph for their anti-British propaganda in the Near East and very few doubted, that behind the Arab terror to which the Government had surrendered stood Nazi and Fascist Germany Italy.
“I will quote a few telling examples, wrote Rabbi Shachter, ‘of what took place before this latest Arab-Hitler friendly conversation: the invitation of a hundred Arab guests to the last Nuremberg Congress; the establishment of an Arab propaganda centre in Berlin; the conferment of a German distinction upon one of the rebel leaders; the enrolment of a hundred Arab students in the Nazi High School for Politics, in which along with anti-Jewish propaganda l an anti-British campaign is conducted. The latest visit to Berchtesgaden should therefore not be regarded as a mere friendly hand-shake or a mere expression of sincere sympathy. It is a corollary of many preceding facts which ought to remove any remaining doubts about Nazi manoeuvres in the Near East .
German-Arab Friendship.
The letter elicited a reply from Mr. Issa Nakhleh. He maintained that the visit of the Saudian Royal Counsellor to Germany was a purely personal one and that Saudi Arabia, as an independent sovereign State, was entitled to send envoys to any country to establish friendly relationships. He maintained that the Arab – propaganda centre in Berlin was a society of Arab students who believe in German-Arab friendship.
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Notes. This Arab-Palestinian Issa Nahkleh, at the time worked for Falastin newspapers. In the 1950s he glorified Nazi Germany in his ‘America y Oriente’ as Arab League attache in Argentina. Since around 1961, he headed the infamous Mufti al-Husseini’s P.A.D. in NY. On behalf of his boss he sent out a letter in 1963 “explaining” / justifying “why” the Nazis hated the Jews. He denied the Holocaust, especially in the UN in Nov 1972 and in his letter to Carter ahead of Camp David in 1987. One of the first to peddle – USE the “kahazar” myth. He had worked with neo-Nazis throughout 1960s-1980s.