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Grants to counter antisemitism and online hate announced for 6 organizations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Six organizations will receive a total of $3.4 million to combat Holocaust denial and antisemitism, the Canadian government announced Jan. 27, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

The funds are part of $5-million allocation for a new Holocaust remembrance program outlined in the 2024 budget, that committed $90 million to combatting antisemitism.

The announcements were part of observances for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, other world leaders and survivors travel to Auschwitz to observe the sombre event.

In Canada, a memorial ceremony with politicians, foreign diplomats and survivors was held at the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. MP Rachel Bendayan, associate minister for public safety, announced that a national summit on antisemitism would be held March 6. “All levels of government will commit to concrete solutions to address the alarming rise of antisemitic violence across our country,” she said.

These six institutions will benefit from the funding:

  • Toronto Holocaust Museum: $379,000 to launch a social media campaign combatting online misinformation and hate.
  • Canadian Society for Yad Vashem: $160,000 to enhance Holocaust education for teachers, school boards, professors and law enforcement personnel.
  • Montreal Holocaust Museum: $495,800 to develop educational resources about antisemitism in Quebec.
  • Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre: $467,300 to support three bilingual online learning programs on Holocaust remembrance and education.
  • Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies: $435,000 to recruit 60 elementary and secondary school educators across the country to teach about the Holocaust.
  • Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island: $124,000 for training for community leaders on antisemitism and the experiences of local Jewish Canadians.

In addition, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s program on Holocaust and Genocide Education received $1.3 million, which followed a $2 million initial contribution.

York Centre MP Ya’ara Saks, the associate minister of health, announced the grants for Toronto institutions after she and several other members of Parliament toured the Toronto Holocaust Museum. In her remarks, she reflected on the rising antisemitism and violence that been seen across the country and in her riding since the Oct.7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war.

“Oct. 7, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, has continued to have rippling effects in Jewish communities here in Canada and around the world. And it has led to a distressing rise in antisemitism, which shows us that the lessons of the Holocaust have never been starker. For many in our community, it has been a time of anxiety, a sense of not knowing where one is safe to take a bus, to go on a subway, to go to a hospital, to enter a cultural space.”

Holocaust education is one strategy in combatting antisemitism, she said in an interview with The CJN afterward.

“In the world we are in today, which is very much for young people an online world, we need to be able to give them the tools of discernment and understanding of what they’re seeing and hearing and reading, and also the power of survivor testimony, the power of the messages and the lessons learned of how the Holocaust happened are really important for young people to know today, how hate takes root.”

Students also need to learn how societies become polarized and how to be allies, she said.

“In this case, when we see Jewish students in the TDSB (Toronto District School Board) feeling that they are being isolated and marginalized because of the war between Israel and Hamas, more education is needed to make sure that Jewish students… any Jewish members of the community going to hospitals or any other public space, should be able to feel safe where they are and not be marginalized or isolated or ostracized,” she said. “And that requires education, that requires a deep dive in unpacking the misinformation and the disinformation that we’re seeing in hate online.”

Legislation to regulate the online world has been in discussion for years. The most recent proposal, the Online Harms Bill, was introduced in February, 2024, but has yet to be passed. Saks blamed the Opposition Conservatives saying they “chose to play partisan politics in the House,” delaying its passage.

Combatting online misinformation and hate is the goal of the Toronto Holocaust Museum’s project called ‘It’s critical to think critically,’ said executive director Dara Solomon.

The national social media campaign links to resources that explain how to fact-check sources, and understand how the emotional intensity of messages is designed to spread them further.

“A disturbing number of people rely solely on social media for their news, and it increases as you get younger people who are getting almost 100 percent of their news online. And those people do not verify what they learn and we know there’s so much misinformation online, especially on platforms like Telegram and X but even on mainstream ones, like Facebook- we know that Meta is no longer going to do factchecking,” Solomon said. “That’s a huge problem and we know that it also contributes to the rise of antisemitism.”

The online campaign will enable the museum to broaden its reach beyond the students who visit the exhibits, Solomon said. “It’s really about countering this barrage of misinformation online and to give people tools to change their behaviours online.”

The post Grants to counter antisemitism and online hate announced for 6 organizations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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