Combatting Leftist and Islamic Extremism | CAEF Bulletin, Aug 15, 2025
- CAEF
- Aug 15
- 10 min read
Confronting Antisemitism in K-12 Ontario Schools
On Monday, August 10th, Jewish Educators and Families Association of Canada (JEFA.ca) released its most urgent and comprehensive report to date: End the Crisis in Education: A Plan for Equal Rights and Real Learning. The report shines a spotlight on how Ontario’s K–12 education system has permitted the erosion of student safety and academic standards through the unchecked rise of discriminatory ideologies and bureaucratic dysfunction. “Declining test scores, record levels of school violence, and escalating antisemitism - Ontario’s students are in crisis. We need an equal rights movement for all students. Jewish students can’t afford to wait,” said Tamara Gottlieb, co-founder of JEFA. “Antisemitism is not just happening in our schools - it’s being tolerated by our schools,” Gottlieb continued. “What was once a civic institution dedicated to academic excellence and pluralism has been hijacked by activist agendas that divide and exclude.”
“This is a systemic failure, not just a Jewish concern - it’s about student success at large,” she added. “The rise in antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine of a system that has lost its moral and academic compass.”
The report connects the normalization of antisemitism in Ontario schools to the growing influence of identity-based ideologies - specifically Critical Race Theory (CRT), Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy (CRRP), and bloated DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) bureaucracies. These frameworks cast Jewish identity as one of inherited power and privilege, ignoring Jewish indigeneity and vulnerability, and often recasting Jewish students as “oppressors” rather than peers in need of protection.
“As the Canadian Government recently reported, Jewish students in Ontario feel unsafe, unwelcome, and unwanted,” said Aaron Kucharczuk, JEFA co-founder. “Ontario’s education system has never spent more on anti-racism, critical race theory, identities, and DEI, yet hate incidents continue to increase. These policies distract from academics and promote discrimination on the basis of identity, as unfortunately experienced by too many Jewish students. We need to return to the basics: equal rights for all students and a focus on core curriculum.”
The report features over 25 targeted recommendations across five sectors - Ministry of Education, School Boards, Ontario College of Teachers, Faculties of Education, and Teachers’ Unions - calling for:
The elimination of CRT/CRRP from curricula and professional training
Enforcement of content neutrality and use of Ministry-vetted learning resources
Stronger academic oversight and transparent governance
Restoration of parent and community voices in school board operations
A judicial inquiry into whether Jewish educators are receiving equal representation from their unions
JEFA’s House of Commons submissions emphasized that Jewish students are not seekingspecial treatment - but equal protection under existing law. As the report notes,“Antisemitism in schools is not an abstract concern; it is a lived and growing threat. If ignored, it risks becoming embedded in the culture of public education.”
“Ontario schools are no longer delivering on their academic or moral mandate,” addedGottlieb. “Until we restore neutrality, raise standards, and protect all students equally, we will continue to see division, failure, and harm.”
The full report, including its proposed Student Success & Safety Reform Framework is available here.
Read article by Courtney Greenberg in National Post, August 11, 2025.
Legal Update
CAEF applauds and appreciates York Region District School Board teacher Ellie Morin for his courageous stance at the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Annual Meeting, which took place this past week at the Toronto Sheraton Centre Hotel. We stand ready to provide Mr. Morin with any information, support or assistance he may need. He is welcome to contact us at info@caef.ca
On August 14, 2025, the Montreal Gazette reported that Sergio Yanes Preciado, who stands accused of Assault Causing Bodily Harm in connection with an attack he allegedly made on a Jewish man in a Montreal park in the presence of the man's young children, was remanded into custody for a 30-day psychiatric evaluation, to determine Preciado's fitness for trial and his degree of criminal responsibility.
According to the report in the Gazette, the judge at the preliminary hearing remarked that based on the criminologist report, Mr. Preciado had experienced some difficult moments in his life, having "delirious ideas linked to his actions", that there was a question of drug consumption on the part of Mr. Preciado, and that there are mental health concerns corroborated by Mr. Preciado's mother. The judge also cited the criminologist's finding that "hot weather" may have been a factor in the attack
Accordingly, CAEF encourages caution and vigilance for our readers visiting a city park in Canada to during the summer months when the weather is hot, while being Jewish. You may be attacked and beaten by a young man with a history of difficult moments, drug consumption, and maternally-corroborated mental health concerns. All these factors, in addition to the traditional”Free Palestine Activist” exemption from Canadian criminal law, will tend toward the alleged perpetrator getting a discharge or the charges withdrawn.
2025 Canada is feeling more like 1959 Mississippi every day.
Sentencing judgments in the cases of R. v Elkhodary and R. v Bahadur will be issued on September 3, 2025 at the Ontario Court of Justice on September 3.
CAEF President Michael Teper delivered a Community Impact Statement in each case, and also appeared as a witness at the Bahadur trial.
Please watch our Twitter feed @caefto for details about the hearings, including Zoom links, the day before (Sept 2).
We hope that the Justices issuing the sentences will not place undue emphasis on the “Free Palestine Activist” mitigating factor in sentencing that has recently emerged in the case law, much to our regret.
We are still waiting for the Ontario Ministry of Education to respond to our Freedom of Information request for the records of the Patrick Case inquiry into the TDSB Grassy Narrows field trip scandal of September 2024. Our request is now outstanding for 8 months. Please bring the matter to the attention of Education Minister Paul Calandra at Paul.Calandra@pc.ola.ca.
Kidnapped. Starved. What the NY Times and Other Papers Won’t Tell You
Possible Antisemitism Reflected in Cultural Organizations
Is it antisemitism or is it just a double standard and is there a difference? In a decision by TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival, that caused a tiff, reports stated that management cancelled an Israeli documentary because Hamas hadn’t given permission to the filmmakers to use its terror videos. Unbelievable!!! This story went viral in but a few hours and came to this editor’s attention from a colleague in Switzerland. How is it that this is global news while the constant attacks, spoken and physical, on Jews are often ignored? TIFF brings celebrity status to films and that grabs attention. The cancellation decision resulted in dozens of letters, op eds and critiques from across the globe in just one day. Read some below. Let’s hope more such antiJewish behaviour will get equal attention and a similar strong response. (note, at time of publishing, the decision may be reversed.)
Read story by Hannah Brown in The Jerusalem Post August 13, 2024.
Read story featured in Deadline which first reported the film was included then that it was excluded.
The People’s Conference on Palestine – A “Shanda”
Imagine thousands of people gathered in an American city to learn lies about Israel, fake history about a fake people, remake the story of the indigenous people, the Jews, and ignore the actual colonizing of Israel by Arab invaders, the Arabs. That is what is taking place this month in Detroit where many already brainwashed individuals will be collectively further radicalized by anti-Israel bigots.
Watch an excerpt from the 2024 conference at which a journalist went undercover to this secret conference, as reviewed by podcaster, Tal Oran.
Recruiting for 2025 is underway. It will take place August 29-31 and from the posted map of Israel, labelled Palestine, it is not hard to imagine the depth of lies and bigotry that will be revealed.
What Real Decolonization Looks Like
North American Indigenous voices are challenging anti-Israel dogma, drawing from their shared historical experiences to stand with the Jewish state.
Read Article by David Jager in Tablet Magazine.
Recognizing “Palestine” Is Recognizing a Unicorn
Nachum Kaplan, writing in Moral Clarity: Truths in Politics ad Culture, August 12, 2025 makes the following key points:
“The question of what constitutes a legitimate state is one with historical, legal, and political answers, none of which the Palestinian polity meets. Western countries’ rush to recognize a Palestinian state is performative nonsense on stilts.
Australia has become the latest country to declare that it would recognize a Palestinian state in September, following France’s and Canada’s lead, and other countries such as Spain and Ireland doing so last year. It is as meaningless as zoologists getting together and recognizing the Sumatran white rhinoceros as a unicorn.”
Watch spokesperson for Quillet, give 9 reasons why Quillet objects to recognizing Palestine, most notably because the Palestinian national mission is to eliminate Israel.
Read article by Alan Baker, former Israeli Ambassador to Canada, on Canada’s Betrayal of Israel, Israpundit, August 12, 2025.
Read Janet Levy in American Thinker, August 12, 2025, on The Eurabian Push for a Hamas State, noting that the planned Islamization of Europe has been in place for decades. Succumbing to Muslim demands could end Europe; a Palestinian State is just the beginning.
Silence is Suicide
The Promised Land Project and the Macdonald Laurier Institute
The Ottawa-based Macdonald Laurier Institute is an independent, non-partisan think tank, founded by Brian Crowley, to maintain and champion the best of Canadian values, “a place where people may live in peace and freedom under the rule of law.”
Crowley initiated this institute 15 years ago, recognizing in its name, two outstanding political leaders, Conservative Sir John A. Macdonald and Liberal Sir Wilfrid Laurier, one English-speaking and one French-speaking. MLI provides thought leadership to policy-makers, opinion leaders and the general public. Their projects and numerous, varied, intellectually strong, with the goal of improving Canadian governance and the function of major institutions.
One initiative is the Promised Land Project which “… aims to address critical gaps in Canadian understanding of Israel and the Middle East, combat growing antisemitism, and counter extremism to uphold democratic values and foster informed dialogue.” MLI notes that “antisemitism and extremism thrive when their opponents are silent and divided.”
The institute has excellent articles about the conflict, concerns about immigration, and how Jewish Canadians are dealing with the current situation including abandonment of senior governments. Go to MLI website.
Read excerpt from an article in The Hub, by Casey Babb, Director of the Promised Land Project, August 5, 2025, pointing out that recognizing a state of Palestine is Not a way to help the Middle East.
Read article by Howard Fremeth, August 4, 2025 in Policy,
Read Jack Mintz in National Post on August 6, 2025 calling on Mark Carney to combat antisemitism and not to fan the flames.
Recommended Viewing
Watch Haka Dance in New Zealand, against ISIS and Palestinian flags.
Watch Luai Ahmed, Yemeni journalist, confronting UN Human Rights Council about its bias against Israel and totally ignoring Muslim Arab slaughter of other Arabs.
Watch Sandra Hagee Parker, Chair of CUFI Action Fund introducing Pastor John Hagee, Founder and Chairman of CUFI at JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem.
Anti-Palestinian Racism & the IHRA Definition: What’s at Stake for Canadians – September 10 Webinar
Join legal experts Mark Sandler and Amanda Ross, along with moderator Jill Mayer of Lawyers Combating Antisemitism, as they address the growing misuse of anti-racism language and legal definitions in ways that affect not only Jewish Canadians, but the integrity of Canada’s broader human rights and equity landscape.
This webinar will explore the nature and dangers of Anti-Palestinian Racism (APR), particularly how it is defined by proponents in ways that demonize Zionists as racists rather than address true discrimination. We will also examine how the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism is being misdescribed.
The session is designed to equip Jewish community members and allies with clear, accurate, and practical tools to explain and respond to these issues confidently in conversations with peers, community leaders, and policymakers.
Presented by: Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and Lawyers Combating Antisemitism, and Canadian Jewish Law Association.
Recommended Reading
Read Nachum Kaplan, Moral Clarity, July 29, 2025, on The West’s enabling Hamas.
Read article in Front Page Why DEI Was Already Dying.
Read article by Martin Sherman in Israpundit, April 12, 2025, on the Washington, Jerusalem, Baku (Azerbaijan) Alliance potential.
Read Giulio Meotti, in Arutz Sheva, August 11, 2025, on the spread of Islam across Europe, and the dangers of this advance.
Read article by Rafael Medoff in the Jewish Journal on how “Palestine” had exaggerated prominence in the UK.
Read Pat Johnson’s Substack, August 9, 2025, on how some people are getting joy out of mass atrocities.
Read article by Micha Danzig in the Algemeiner, on the true meaning of the Palestinian demand for a ” right to return.”
Adam Hummel’s Substack, Catch, A Manifesto for Jewish Power in Canada, August 5, 2025.
Read article by Marelinke van der Riet, August 11, 2025, in the ICEJ website about British Jews immigrating from the UK towards Zion.
Excerpt: “Since the October 7 Hamas massacre, what was once a low hum of anxiety has erupted into open fear and alienation. Jews are no longer merely feeling unsafe in Britain – many now feel unwanted. And for a growing number, the response is not retreat, but return: a journey not into exile, but toward Zion.”
Alarming Trends Since October 7
“Since the October 7 Hamas massacre, antisemitism in Britain has increased by between 200 and 300 per cent. The Community Security Trust has recorded over 100 antisemitic incidents each month in 2024 alone. These include:
Vandalised synagogues
Threats and violence toward visibly Jewish individuals
Armed security required at Jewish schools
Hostility at universities, with Jewish students often hiding their identity
But beyond these direct incidents, a broader social climate is emerging – one that increasingly normalises antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation in public spaces."
Educating Students and Teachers on Who Are the Jews
CAEF has partnered with La'ad to deliver an educational program to students in Ontario. This mobile exhibit includes accessing AI generated information. For information contact sam@laadcanada.com.
Advocacy and Action
Letter from Andria Spindel, August 13, 2025 to Sami Tammi re this book, on display at Indigo Books.
CAEF letter to Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) urging they rescind decision to cancel a film that tells the story of an Israeli hero during October 7.
Wendy Sachs, filmmaker and producer of the film October 8 posted this message.
Read post by Honey Jaffe Tishgart in Austin, Texas, on Facebook, "To the Antisemites of the World."
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