Education Can Help Get Rid of Hate
By Leo Marcus
Antisemitism is a problem that comes from ignorance, prejudice and misinformation and can be solved through education. According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary website, antisemitism is hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people. Hate against Jews is a worldwide problem and has been for thousands of years. According to data from Statistics Canada, antisemitism in Canada has increased significantly in recent years, with hate crimes targeting the Jewish population rising by 71% between 2022 and 2023. The Jewish community continues to be the most targeted minority in Canada. Everyone deserves to be able to practice their religion, culture and identity without discrimination. Educating people can help to overcome hate against Jews.
Sometimes people just don’t know they are being hateful and this ignorance may result in antisemitism. Hate caused by ignorance can be solved with education. The percentage of students in the US (ages 12-18) experiencing bullying at school dropped from 28% in 2010-11 to about 19% in 2021-22 in part due to education, as reported by the website Stop Bullying.gov. This data shows that it is possible that antisemitism would also drop with education. Holocaust education is now required for grade 9 Social Studies students as mandated by the province of Manitoba. Teaching about the Holocaust and its terrible effects on Jewish and other minorities, as well as boosting tolerance, will lower antisemitism in Manitoba if it was taught as mandated.
Some people learn to hate because of the prejudice of their families or communities. An example of this happened on December 14th, 2025. A terrorist attack occurred at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Two radicalized gunmen, a father and son, shot and killed 15 people and injured 40 others. These people were targeted because they were Jewish. This traumatic massacre would not have happened if the shooters had not learned to hate, but learning to hate isn’t new.
Before 1832, Jews in Canada were not considered “people.” In 1832, The Emancipation Act, also known as “the 1832 act to grant equal rights and privileges to persons of the Jewish religion,” was a bill passed that guaranteed full rights to those practising the Jewish faith in lower Canada. The reason that The Emancipation Act was passed was in large part as a reaction to the earlier refusal of the Legislature to allow Ezekiel Hart to take his seat in the house, due to being a Jew. The Emancipation Act also granted Jews the same religious rights as members of the country’s two officially recognized religions, Catholicism and Anglicanism. The bill also included the right to register, births, marriages, and deaths, a privilege that had previously been denied to Jews. The Emancipation Act is important because it allows Jews to be considered as “equal people.” Eventually, nearly 150 years later, Jews were allowed into clubs, like the Winter Club in Manitoba and covenants on land that prevented Jewish ownership, like at Victoria Beach, were abolished.
Even though the law changed to allow Jews more access and equality to Canadian life, there was and is still discrimination in Canada. In May of 2026, the Winnipeg Police released hate crime statistics for 2025. According to a CityNews article by Sofia Frolova, “Out of 37 hate-crime reports related to religion, 32 of them involved Jewish people.”
In general, misinformation can cause people to be misled and do horrible things. People should be educated about how to detect misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. Misinformation and disinformation are often used to discriminate against minorities. Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a particular cause, doctrine, or point of view, according to the Oxford Languages Dictionary website. An example of how propaganda can affect a society is how Hitler and the Nazi Party used it to facilitate war and genocide against Jews. According to the Chandan Economics website, the 2025 Racial Inequities in the US Housing Report, it disclosed a 4 percent decline in racial inequity in US housing since 2011. This study proves that educating others can make a meaningful difference.
Critics say that this isn’t applicable to Canada, and that there is no antisemitism in Canada, but this is an example of misinformation. In 2024, there were 6,219 antisemitic incidents in Canada and in 2025 there were 6,800 with an average of 18.6 incidents per day according to B’nai B’rith Canada. There was a 124.6% increase in incidents from 2022 to 2024.
Antisemitic incidents are only expected to rise in 2026. This year, there were multiple antisemitic incidents in Winnipeg of people drawing swastikas in our neighbourhood in Winnipeg, West Broadway, and even on Kelvin High School. This is a real issue in Manitoba and Canada. The statistics on the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) website show there were more than 4 times as many antisemitic hate crimes as the second-most targeted religious minority (Muslims). Statistically, there are many fewer Jews in Canada than Muslims. This level of hate needs action through education.
Along with educating people about antisemitism and Holocaust education, Canadians can do more. Canadians say our society is diverse, but Canadians don’t always support that diversity. A way to fix this would be to teach students to be more tolerant of others and to respect and appreciate difference. Schools should have sections of the Social Studies curriculum that not only cover Holocaust and antisemitism but also teach positive appreciation of other cultures, helping everyone appreciate each other and not feel bad for each other because of their religion, race or ethnicity.
My brother was a target of an antisemitic hate crime at Kelvin High School in January 2026. His locker was vandalized with swastikas made of sharpie and tape. This was not our first experience with rising hate. In the summer of 2024, there were many incidents of hate graffiti that targeted Jews in our neighbourhood. This was because of ignorance, prejudice and misinformation. These can all cause antisemitism. Education can help fix this. Sometimes people do not know that they are being hateful, and education and exposure to information about Judaism could help fix this. Education can help people overcome prejudice that they learned from their community, culture and family. Misinformation leads to propaganda that causes harm to minorities.
Hate crimes are on the rise worldwide, but antisemitism is outpacing other forms of hate. This is a disturbing trend in North America and worldwide. Pursuing education could drastically reduce hate crimes and antisemitism in Canada, helping learners to overcome ignorance, prejudice and misinformation. Education is a good way to make a difference.
Works Cited
“Antisemitism in Canada.” Canada.ca, 31 March 2026, https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/canada-holocaust/antisemitism.html. Accessed 11 June 2026.
B’nai Brith Canada. “B’NAI BRITH CANADA SPECIAL REPORT: A National Crisis of Antisemitism.” B’nai Brith Canada, B’nai Brith Canada, 27 April 2026, https://www.bnaibrith.ca/bnai-brith-canada-special-report-a-national-crisis-of-antisemitism/.
“Facts About Bullying | StopBullying.gov.” Stop Bullying.gov, 9 October 2024, https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/facts. Accessed 11 June 2026.
Frolova, Sofia. “Hate-motivated crime numbers skyrocket, but local groups say, real numbers are a lot higher.” CityNews, May 2026, https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2026/05/28/hate-motivated-crime-numbers-skyrocket-but-local-0-say-real-numbers-are-a-lot-higher/.
Gindin, Matthew. “Ezekiel Hart and the emancipation of Canada’s Jews.” The Canadian Jewish News, The Canadian Jewish News, 20 July 2017, https://thecjn.ca/opinion/perspectives/Ezekiel-Hart-emancipation-canadas-Jews/.
“Google Dictionary: English – Oxford Languages.” Oxford Languages, https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/. Accessed 11 June 2026.
“Google Dictionary: English – Oxford Languages.” Oxford Languages, https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/. Accessed 11 June 2026.
kwize.com. “Ezekiel Hart.” kwize.com, https://kwize.com/en/authors/Ezekiel-Hart/.
Wyman, Oliver. “Racial Inequities in US Housing: 2025 Report.” Chandan Economics, 5 March 2025, https://www.chandan.com/post/2025-racial-inequities-in-us-housing-report. Accessed 11 June 2026.