Parents of Jewish students at Ottawa’s largest school board say their children feel unsafe and unsupported because of growing antisemitism at school.
Six parents and one student delegate spoke at Tuesday night’s Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) meeting to discuss the problem, which many parents say has become a “crisis.”
“Over the past number of years and especially since Oct. 7, there has been a noticeable increase in antisemitism in OCDSB schools,” said parent Naomi Hirshberg. “They have to endure taunts, racial slurs, Nazi salutes and being told Hitler was right.”
Leah Freedhoff, a Grade 11 student at Sir Robert Borden High School, spoke before the board virtually. She described having money thrown at her feet, Nazi flags flown in her face and getting hit with a “barrage” of online hate.
It’s her second time in two years she has appeared before the board on the same subject, after she pleaded with trustees to take more action to protect Jewish students during the Israel-Palestine conflict in the spring of 2021. She says little has changed for Jewish students since.
“Before Oct. 7, antisemitism was already at an unreasonably high level in your schools. Since October 7, it has become untenable,” she said.
“Blaming Jewish people for the actions of a foreign government is not okay. Referring to Jewish or Israeli people as ‘baby killers’ is an antisemitic blood libel created centuries ago that cannot be justified by ‘it’s a political opinion.'”
Trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth, the only Jewish person sitting on the board, was the only trustee who asked questions to the delegates.
Shira Waldman, who has four children, two currently in high school in the OCDSB, told CTV News in an interview before the meeting that her kids felt significant antisemitism in classrooms starting as far back as 2018. Her children faced harassment because of their identity, including being subjected to references of Holocaust gas chambers and of Hitler returning.
“Peers who would throw money on the floor and say ‘your a Jew aren’t you going to pick it up,'” she told CTV News.
Waldman says she even filed a police report against one student, who threatened her child on social media. She says her youngest was forced to transfer schools.
“I faced antisemitism myself in the 80’s and I had hoped that my children would never have to deal with that – it leaves lasting scars,” Waldman said.
“The school board is not taking Jewish parents seriously and they’re not doing enough to protect our kids. Their whole basis is that kids should feel free to identify with who they are, and that doesn’t apply to Jewish kids.”
Parents at the meeting are asking the OCDSB to establish mandatory antisemitism training for all staff members and for the board to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
“The government has adopted it, now its time for the schools to do the same,” Waldman said.
David Sachs, the community relations and antisemitism specialist of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, says antisemitism has become a “crisis” and becoming “the norm” within the Ottawa public school system.
“What we’re finding with kids is a universal sentiment across Ottawa that they’re afraid to even be known that they’re Jewish at their schools,” Sachs said.
“What we want to do today is raise awareness and focus the Board of Trustees on antisemitism. I think we have some really good leaders within the system who want to make a difference, but this is such a massive problem and it takes institutional will. We have not seen that from the trustees.”
Ottawa police reported a 19 per cent increase in hate-motivated crimes in 2023, with Jewish residents targeted more than any other group. In early 2023, trustees voted to hire a Jewish equity coach with Brian Kom currently serving in the role.
The OCDSB has said in past statements that it does not tolerate hate against any group.