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Why Are Canadian Children Forced to Protest Israel Against Their Will?
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters, primarily university students, rally at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square on Oct. 28, 2023. Photo by Sayed Najafizada/NurPhoto
Canada prides itself on being a big tent nation — a place where bilingualism and multiculturalism are official government policy, and diversity is our greatest strength.
According to the country’s mythology, when Canadians disagree, they come up with practical solutions, resolve their differences peacefully, and are better off for it.
Canada’s commitment to inclusion is so deeply ingrained that in a 2015 debate with then-prime minister Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau famously responded to Harper’s suggestion that revocation of citizenship might be justified in the case of a convicted terrorist by saying, “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”
It was one of many one-liners that helped Trudeau become prime minister that year, and hang onto the job for the next nine and counting.
But while convicted terrorists may take comfort in their prime minister’s promise of unconditional kinship, Canada’s Jews are feeling increasingly unwelcome in their own country.
The latest outrage came from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), which is responsible for educating roughly 238,000 children and another 100,000 “life-long learners” through adult and continuing education programs.
Like many large North American school boards, while the TDSB has failed in educating children in core competencies such as numeracy, it has compensated with additional servings of diversity, equity, inclusion, and the latest fad — decolonization.
In November 2023, one of the board’s equity advisors, Javier Dávila, earned the dubious distinction of being placed on paid home assignment for the second time in two-and-a-half years for comments about Israel.
In June, after a divisive debate, the school board decided to update its Combating Hate and Racism Student Learning Strategy to include anti-Palestinian racism.
The change was an important victory for activists, who had spent years trying to invent an anti-Palestinian racism crisis out of whole cloth, including via the school board’s 2022 census, whose “Guiding Research Principles” document went so far as to confer victimhood status on non-Palestinian supporters of the Palestinian cause.
According to the new dogma, even though people like Dávila aren’t Palestinian, and Palestinians aren’t a race, these people are nevertheless victims of anti-Palestinian racism.
Never mind that Palestinians constitute a mere 5% of the city’s Arab population — less than the number of people from Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq, none of which get their own special category.
All of these factors metastasized in spectacular fashion this month, when 15 TDSB schools made a field trip to the Grassy Narrows River Run. The annual event is intended to raise awareness of the plight of a Northern Ontario indigenous community suffering from mercury-poisoned water.
Parents were told that students would merely “observe and learn from the presentations and discussions” and would not be participating in an actual protest.
Indigenous students were “invited to wear their regalia,” while “settlers” were “asked to wear blue, if possible.”
In a particularly unusual instruction, parents were told, “media will be present at the event, and there is a chance our group will pass by cameras. If there are any issues around this, please let me know and we will make every effort to keep faces obscured.”
One would be hard-pressed to come up with another example of a publicly-funded educational field trip in which kids are instructed to divide themselves into tribes of virtuous and odious, and wear masks for fear of being identified as attendees.
Shortly thereafter, video emerged that looked eerily similar to the youth indoctrination rituals in totalitarian regimes.
Small children, some as young as eight-years-old and most of whom were dutifully sporting their settler blue, were led in a call and response: “From Turtle Island to Palestine, occupation is a crime. No justice, no peace. No racist, no peace.”
It would be difficult to come up with a pithier slogan to encapsulate the omnicause of the neo-Marxist left, who believe there is a direct thread running between the long-ago conquest of the Americas by Europeans, the mere existence of the State of Israel, police brutality, and the scourge of racism in general.
Students allegedly came home with “Zionism Kills” stickers, which were being doled out by some TDSB teachers.
But please — don’t call them antisemites.
If Canadian Jews are losers in yet another alienating episode, so are indigenous Canadians, whose event was co-opted by radicals with dreams of playing Model UN, and whose disgraceful conduct ended up taking the spotlight.
There is little question that the failure of Canada — despite years of promises — to bring clean drinking water to many indigenous communities is a moral stain that demands serious solutions.
Indeed, it was in that spirit that when my own daughter’s middle school held a 2022 assembly on the issue of contaminated water on indigenous reserves, I followed up by getting the President and Chief Global Water Officer of charity: water, an American not-for-profit that has brought clean drinking water to close to 20 million people in 29 countries, to agree to speak to the students.
Over the course of two academic years, the school never took me up on the offer.
That’s because for many radical Canadians, activism isn’t about solving problems. That work is hard and often boring.
Rather, the activist’s job is to protest and attack systemic bogeymen, thereby solving all of the world’s problems in one conceptual fell swoop — all without having to learn or do much of anything.
And if some Jews are offended along the way, they should — as one teacher advised one of the children who was dragged to this event — “get over it.”
Two of the schools that participated in this shameful episode have been named in press reports.
I’ve asked the TDSB several times to name the other 13, as they are clearly hostile environments for Jewish children, and Jewish parents have a right to know which schools to avoid.
As of this writing, the Board has denied my requests. However, the Ministry of Education has ordered an investigation into the matter, so it seems probable those names will eventually come out.
One can only hope the end result of the investigation will be a removal of ideology from the curriculum.
If all the Board does is put a few of the shrillest voices on paid leave while allowing their worst ideas to remain on the lesson plan, Toronto’s Jewish community should brace for more episodes like this.
Ian Cooper is a Toronto-based lawyer
The post Why Are Canadian Children Forced to Protest Israel Against Their Will? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Australian Nurses Charged Over Threatening Viral Video Banned from NDIS
Illustrative: Supporters of Hamas gather for a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Reuters/Joel Carrett
Two former Australian nurses who were charged over a viral video in which they allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients have been banned from working under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), four months after being suspended from their jobs at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney.
Earlier this year, Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, both 27, gained international attention after they were seen in an online video posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements during a night shift conversation with Israeli influencer Max Veifer.
The widely circulated footage, which sparked international outrage and condemnation, showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.
Following the incident, New South Wales authorities suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide. They are now also prohibited from working with or providing any services — paid or unpaid — to NDIS participants for two years.
This latest ban, which took effect on May 9, applies nationwide and prohibits Nadir and Abu Lebdeh from working with NDIS participants or performing any role for or on behalf of NDIS providers in any Australian state or territory.
Abu Lebdeh was charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, she faces up to 22 years in prison.
Nadir was charged with federal offenses, including using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offense, as well as possession of a prohibited drug.
Currently, both of them remain free on bail and have not yet entered any pleas, with a court appearance scheduled for July 29. They’ve been prohibited from leaving Australia or using social media while their cases proceed.
According to Nadir’s lawyer, the video was captured “without the consent and knowledge” of his client, and he intends to argue for its exclusion from court.
“We will be challenging the admissibility of the video recording because it was a private conversation which was recorded by the person overseas without my client’s consent and without his knowledge,” Nadir’s lawyer said. “That video recording was made secretly overseas and was unlawfully obtained.”
This incident, which drew international attention, occurred amid a surge of antisemitic acts across Australia since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October 2023, with Jewish institutions targeted in arson attacks and businesses defaced.
Antisemitism spiked to record levels in Australia — especially in Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to some 85 percent of the country’s Jewish population — following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities, with the escalation continuing amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.
According to a report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the country’s Jewish community experienced over 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, more than quadrupling from 495 in the prior 12 months.
The number of antisemitic physical assaults in Australia rose from 11 in 2023 to 65 in 2024. The level of antisemitism for the past year was six times the average of the preceding 10 years.
The post Former Australian Nurses Charged Over Threatening Viral Video Banned from NDIS first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Boulder Firebomber Charged With Murder Following Death of Victim
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, June 2, 2025. Photo: Boulder Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
A victim of the antisemitic Boulder, Colorado firebombing died on Monday, prompting local law enforcement to charge suspect Mohamed Soliman with murder in the first degree.
“Severe injuries” caused the death of Karen Diamond, 82, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office (BCDA) said on Monday in a statement. She was one of 13 people injured when Soliman hurled Molotov cocktails into a crowd of Jewish people who were participating in a demonstration to raise awareness of the hostages who remain imprisoned by Hamas in Gaza. Her death adds five new charges to the over 200 federal and state criminal charges which could lock Soliman away for over 600 years.
“These additional charges, including the counts of First Degree Murder, are being filed after consultation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Boulder Police Department,” said the DA’s office, adding that it “continues to work closely with federal, state, and local partners in the strong response to this attack. We stand united against acts of antisemitism and hate.”
“This horrific attack has now claimed the life of an innocent person who was beloved by her family and friends,” said Michal Dougherty, district attorney of Boulder County. “Our hearts are with the Diamond family during this incredibly difficult time. Our office will fight for justice for the victims, their loved ones, and the community. Part of what makes Colorado special is that people come together in response to a tragedy; I know that the community will continue to unite in supporting the Diamond family and all the victims of this attack.”
Prosecutors said in May that Soliman yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, and, according to court documents, told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people.”
That incident came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The suspect charged for the double murder, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, also yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police after the shooting, according to video of the incident. The FBI affidavit supporting the criminal charges against Rodriguez stated that he told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”
In Garret Park, Maryland, a middle-aged man, Clift A. Seferlis, was recently arrested by federal authorities for sending a series of threatening messages to Jewish organizations in Philadelphia. Seferlis referenced the war in Gaza in his communications.
“The Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement. “Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s ‘many big open windows,’ ‘Kristallnacht,’ ‘anger and rage,’ and a future need to ‘rebuild’ the institution following its destruction.”
Another antisemitic incident motivated by anti-Zionism occurred in San Francisco, where Juan Diaz-Rivas, Alejandro Flores-Lamas, and others law enforcement is working to identify, allegedly beat up a Jewish victim in the middle of the night. Diaz-Rivas and Flores-Lamas, along with their associates, approached the victim while shouting “F—ck the Jews, Free Palestine,” according to the office of the San Francis district attorney.
“[O]ne of them punched the victim, who fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Allegedly, Mr. Diaz-Rivas and others in the group continued to punch and kick the victim while he was down. A worker at a nearby business heard the altercation and antisemitic language and attempted to intervene. While trying to help the victim, he was kicked and punched.”
According to data released by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in April, antisemitism in the US is surging to break “all previous annual records.”
In 2024 alone, the ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, an eruption of hatred not recorded in the nearly thirty years since the organization began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.
The Algemeiner parsed the ADL data, finding dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.
“In 2024, hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the US, with more than half of all antisemitic incidents referencing Israel or Zionism,” Oren Segal, ADL senior vice president for counter-extremism and intelligence, said when the report was released. “These incidents, along with all those documented in the audit, serve as a clear reminder that silence is not an option. Good people must stand up, push back, and confront antisemitism wherever it appears. And that starts with understanding what fuels it and learning to recognize it in all its forms.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Boulder Firebomber Charged With Murder Following Death of Victim first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
The post US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.