Oops! Canadian Muslim school apologizes for teaching anti-Semitism
Educational materials exposed Monday liken Judaism to Nazism, call Jews ‘crafty’ and ‘treacherous’ and advise male students to prepare themselves for jihad
A Muslim school in Toronto has apologized to Jewish residents after local news reports revealed that it was teaching anti-Semitism to students.
“We unreservedly apologize to the Jewish community for the unintentional offence that the item has caused,” the East End Madrassah wrote in a press release, referring to school materials that refer to “Jewish plots and treacheries.”
“Our team of scholars has already undertaken to review all texts and material being used in the curriculum to ensure that our teachings are conveying the right message.”
The apology follows a complaint by the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which found the anti-Jewish material on the school’s website and reported it to police, who opened an investigation. The material also included descriptions of Jews as “crafty” and “treacherous,” and likened Judaism to Nazism.
The school took its website offline Monday, initially saying it was “looking into” the complaint.
Canada’s National Post noted that the apology does not refer to other objectionable elements of the school’s online material, including a suggestion that boys prepare themselves physically “for jihad whenever the time comes for it.”
Another section of the text, aimed at 13- and 14-year-olds, advised female students to avoid sports so they can focus on activities that will be “helpful for them in the future as wives and mothers.”
The East End Madrassah, which has operated for nearly 40 years, is currently run on Sundays on the grounds of a public school, the David and Mary Thompson Collegiate Institute.
