Jewish students weren’t in any physical danger during a school trip on Sept. 18, 2024; however, their emotional safety ought to have been more of a concern to their teachers, according to a Dec. 30 review, which the Toronto District School Board published on April 23.
At the event—an annual “river run” that the Grassy Narrows First Nation organizes to push for clean water—“the emotional safety of some Jewish students was compromised,” Patrick Case, a former Ontario Ministry of Education official, wrote in the report. “Teachers and principals should be more consciously anticipatory with regard to proposed field trips and clearly communicate with parents.”
But Case dismissed news reporting about the outing, condemning “a post-event response that left the world thinking that Toronto children were ‘forced’ to attend an anti-Jewish rally, ‘forced’ to wear T-shirts emblazoned with antisemitic insignia and ‘forced’ to chant Jew-hating slogans in unison.”
“This has resulted in some students feeling confused for having had such a positive experience at an event that has been portrayed so negatively,” he wrote.
“Without minimizing the deleterious effect of the pro-Palestinian chants and anti-Zionist stickers on children, I cannot overstate the importance of context,” he added. “According to those who attended the event, both Jewish and non-Jewish students and teachers, the pro-Palestinian chants took up a total of approximately five minutes of the eight-hour event.”
According to news reports, adult attendees wore keffiyehs and some donned buttons stating, “I’m a proud anti-Zionist,” “Free Palestine” and “Zionism Kills.”
Students Case interviewed told him that during “open-mic speeches” for “30 seconds to one minute, someone on the stage encouraged the crowd to repeat a pro-Palestinian chant: ‘From Turtle Island, to Palestine, occupation is a crime.’”
“Out of the 19 schools that had groups attend, five reported hearing this chant at Grange Park,” he wrote. “The chanting went unnoticed by most of the students. This observation was corroborated by teachers, students and parent volunteers in attendance.”
‘They felt discomfort’
Case conducted 146 meetings and interviews as part of his report, including with parents who attended the event and Jewish leaders.
“I was informed that there were several Jewish TDSB teachers who might have information relevant to the review but who, fearful of reprisal, were afraid to meet with me,” he wrote. “I was, unfortunately, unable to make arrangements for those teachers to speak with me. Furthermore, I have no knowledge of what those teachers would have said to me had I been able to meet them.”
Case wrote of one teacher, who told the class before the field trip that the group would leave if any “antisemitic or anti-Palestinian sentiment was expressed.”
“After a pro-Palestine chant was heard from the Grange Park stage, at least one student told this teacher that they felt discomfort. The class did not leave immediately, and the student did not tell the teacher why they felt discomfort,” he wrote.
“While physical safety may not have been the concern here, emotional safety should have been considered by the teacher,” he added. “I believe that the teacher knew why the student was feeling discomfort and that, by not leaving, they broke their agreement with the student.”
Michelle Stock, a vice president at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, said CIJA is “unfortunately not surprised by the report released today.”
“We are deeply disturbed by its conclusions—and by how blatantly it dismisses the lived experience of Jewish students, families and educators,” said Stock.
“For the past 18 months, Jewish students, parents and staff across the TDSB have endured a relentless campaign of intimidation, silencing and antisemitic abuse—all for simply being Jewish,” she stated. “No student in Toronto should be subjected to the trauma of hearing crowds chant genocidal slogans. Yet that is exactly what happened, and it happened on a school-sanctioned field trip.”
By appearing to downplay what Jewish students experienced since there was no physical attack, Case “erases the psychological toll of targeted hate,” according to Stock.
“The report’s attempt to ‘balance’ perspectives is not only tone-deaf. It is dangerous,” she stated. “By downplaying what Jewish students experienced, it sends a chilling message that antisemitic abuse doesn’t count unless it turns violent. That’s unacceptable.”
‘The minute they chant against Israel … ’
Avi Benlolo, founding chairman and CEO of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, told JNS that Case failed to include and apparently consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in the report to determine if the chants crossed the line.
“Denouncing the Jewish right to live free in their own land, as any other people, those are antisemitic sentiments,” he said.
Moreover, he continued, “if it was against any other group—rallying against the gay or black communities, or any other community for that matter—it wouldn’t hold water for a second. The minute they chant against Israel, it becomes permissible, and that’s really what is shocking and antisemitic about it.”
Students should not be exposed to a political rally, he emphasized, “not in our country or our province, especially without knowing fully what was there.”