Death threats, antisemitic messages targeting Jewish Toronto university student seen on school walls
A Jewish student at Toronto’s Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD) says she feels unsafe returning to class after antisemitic messages, including death threats, were scribbled on the walls of her school.
“I had never felt so sad in my life,” Samantha, who also goes by Sam, told CTV News Toronto in an interview after first discovering the messages.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“They were all like horrible things about me, horrible things about Jews.”
Sam, who is the former president of the university’s Jewish Club, said the messages were found in the school’s so-called “yellow staircase” – a six-storey space where students are encouraged to express themselves freely on the blank wall space.
When she first saw the messages, Sam said she tried to combat the hate with painted words of peace, but those, too, were covered up by messages like “F U Zionists.”
“I started getting death threats. There was even sexual connotations relating to my mother and Hamas,” she said.
Hillel Ontario, an organization aimed at promoting Jewish student life in the province, called on university leaders in a statement to do more to combat antisemitism in its schools.
“The appalling way in which Samantha was targeted at OCAD, unfortunately, follows an alarming and unacceptable pattern that Hillel is tracking across Ontario campuses whereby Jewish students are singled out and demonized for simply being Jewish.”
In a statement to CTV News Toronto, OCAD said: “Discrimination in all forms, including antisemitism, is completely against the values of OCAD University.”
A spokesperson for the school added that the university cooperated with a Toronto police investigation and removed the graffiti “as soon as it was reported.”
“OCAD U has been supporting the impacted student throughout this process,” the university added.
Meanwhile, Sam says she has not received an adequate response from the school following the incident and has missed more than two weeks worth of class due to concerns about her safety.
“There were talks about a meeting three weeks ago and they still haven’t followed up about that,” she said. “It took them forever. It took them days to shut down and paint over the stairwell.”
Earlier this year, Toronto police released data on reported hate crimes in 2023. It showed that of the 353 reports made to police, at least 37 per cent were antisemitic, which Police Chief Myron Demkiw said at the time accounts for the most hate-motivated offences against any one group in the city.
With files from CTV News Toronto's Janice Golding
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are "standing and intact," including its iconic main lodge.
Major Canadian bank dealing with direct deposit outage on pay day
Scotiabank has acknowledged technical difficulties affecting direct deposits as clients report missed payments Friday morning. On Friday morning, the bank's client services phone line was playing an automated message assuring customers that work was underway to rectify the outage.
Elon Musk's estranged daughter calls out his 'entirely fake' claims about her childhood
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's estranged daughter, publicly refuted several recent anti-trans statements her Tesla CEO and X owner father has made about her.
Reported rate of child pornography increased 52% in 2023, total crime up 3%: Statistics Canada
Last year, reported child pornography cases increased by more than 50 per cent in Canada, in part due to more cases being sent to police by specialized internet child exploitation units, according to a Statistics Canada report.
Sask. appeal court says anti-trans group cannot join constitutional dispute over pronoun law
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has denied a political group that opposes so-called “gender ideology” intervener status in a legal dispute over the province’s controversial pronoun law.
Justin Timberlake's attorney disputes he was intoxicated when arrested for DWI
A hearing in the case of Justin Timberlake being accused of driving while intoxicated was held Friday, where an attorney for the singer disputed his arrest in June.
What we know about 'malicious' attack on French train network ahead of Olympics opening
French transport was thrust into chaos Friday just hours ahead of the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony after a series of co-ordinated 'malicious acts' upended high-speed train lines.Here's what happened and what we know so far.
When Barbie learned what a gynecologist was, so did many other people, according to new study
A new study published Thursday in the journal JAMA Network Open has found that the ending in the 2023 blockbuster film 'Barbie' had an influence on online search interest in terms around gynecology, the branch of medicine that deals with women’s reproductive health.
Canada Soccer head investigating 'systemic ethical shortcoming' amid spying scandal
Canada Soccer chief executive officer Kevin Blue said he was investigating a potential 'systemic ethical shortcoming' within the program but has not considered pulling the women's soccer team from the Paris Olympics due to a drone spying scandal.