Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced on Tuesday that an anti-Israel video was taken down from a Grade 10 online civics course.
“Very concerned that this offensive material was on a learning website. Working with @gilamartow, I immediately ordered it to be taken down (it was that day) & investigated to ensure it never happens again. We will not tolerate anti-Semtism [sic] in any form,” he tweeted.
The Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s director of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, has written a letter to Lecce, calling for the video to be removed.
The organization spoke last week with a parent whose son was required to watch a short video about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of an online summer course taken through the York Region District School Board (YRDSB).
When the parent complained to the YRDSB about misinformation and bias in the video, it was quickly removed from the course’s online portal.
Very concerned that this offensive material was on a learning website.
— Stephen Lecce (@Sflecce) July 28, 2020
Working with @gilamartow, I immediately ordered it to be taken down (it was that day) & investigated to ensure it never happens again.
We will not tolerate anti-Semtism in any form.https://t.co/al7Up9WTOf pic.twitter.com/zOY1aGO4v9
According to the video, “The current occupation of the Palestinian land by the Zionists have violated the human rights of the Palestinians. They have deprived the Palestinians of natural resources, such as water, and taking [sic] the majority of it for themselves. The Zionists that are granted these privileges are backed by the military. … This conflict continues to rage on because the Israelis continue to live as occupiers while the Palestinians live under occupation.”
