Avi Benlolo: Ontario teachers shouldn't tolerate the bullying of Jewish students
If our nation's history matters — if we have learned anything from the painful legacy of 'None is too many' — then this is a consequential moment to refuse the role of bystander. It is a moment to stand up, to speak out, and to join me in this fight.
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What is at stake is nothing less than the fabric of our nation. For those who still remember children playing hockey on quiet streets, neighbours helping neighbours push cars from snowbanks or the simple kindness of a helping hand — for anyone who longs for the Canada where downtown cores were alive with laughter on a weekend afternoon, where school assemblies echoed with songs like Kumbaya, and where playground slides weren't defaced with hateful graffiti — this is the Canada we must fight to bring back. This is the Canada we must defend.
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The Abraham Global Peace Initiative has been sounding the alarm. We have taken this issue directly to Ontario's Ministry of Education, urging zero-tolerance policies and accountability for school boards that fail to protect Jewish students. We are advancing a national proposal for a security task force dedicated to confronting antisemitism head-on. We are calling for an immediate public inquiry, and for the education system to move beyond Holocaust remembrance to confront modern-day anti-Jewish hate.
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We are also calling on governments to enforce consequences for educators who engage in or ignore antisemitic acts. Jewish students must not be forced to remove their symbols, hide their identity or transfer schools out of fear. Our laws already prohibit hate speech, but we must ensure they are applied with the full weight of justice in every classroom and corridor.
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There are no neutral bystanders in the fight against hate.
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We must be the people of the moment. Let us stand now, together, and say never again — and this time, mean it.
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