Jewish community in Toronto escorts boy to school as antisemitic bullying persists

Mother of Eitan Cohen says he was told by fellow students that they would ‘do to him what Hamas did to Israel,’ adds that he’s been pushed, kicked and had stones thrown at him

By ToI Staff 19 May 2024, 2:22 am Edit
Members of Toronto's Jewish community escorting Eitan Cohen to school, May 17, 2024. (X screenshot)
Members of Toronto's Jewish community escorting Eitan Cohen to school, May 17, 2024. (X screenshot)

Members of the Jewish community in Toronto escorted a boy to school on Friday after he suffered repeated antisemitic bullying.

According to the Toronto Sun, Eitan Cohen, the son of two Toronto-based Israeli doctors, began being bullied in November 2023, a month after the terror group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 252.

His mother, Adi, told the newspaper that Muslim students had told Eitan that he must bow down to them because he is Jewish and they are Muslim. In a separate interview with the National Post, she said he was told by fellow students that they would “do to him what Hamas did to Israel.”

“Students told my son ‘we need to kill you,'” she told the Kan public broadcaster. “They started pushing and kicking him.” She said she filed three police complaints and asked for the school to intervene but received no help.

Adi also told the Sun that students display anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian messages inside the school’s classrooms. “It’s propaganda and they are allowing it to happen on school property.”

While no official comment has been provided by the Toronto school district, a school official said antisemitism and anti-bullying training have been deployed.

Adi said she began seeking assistance from the community on Thursday after students threw stones at Eitan as he was on his way to school. A social media post invited people to walk to school with Eitan, but asked that no flags or megaphones be brought along.

According to the Kan report, some 150 members of the local Jewish community came out to walk with Cohen so he could feel safe.

“I feel so much better, and my son feels so much better because of the support he received,” Adi told the Sun.

Deborah Lyons, Canada’s antisemitism envoy, told The Times of Israel in an interview this month that there has been a large increase in antisemitic crimes in Canada since October 7.

Most Popular
read more: