Ottawa·NewParents and advocates are calling on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to address anti-Palestinian racism after hateful graffiti was found at Brookfield High School. Anti-Palestinian language, swastika left in Brookfield High School washroomAnchal Sharma · CBC News · Posted: Nov 08, 2025 3:26 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board says it’s alerted police after a ‘hateful act of anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, and antisemitic graffiti’ occurred last week at Brookfield High School. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)Parents and advocates are calling on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to address anti-Palestinian racism after hateful graffiti was found last week at a local high school.“It’s one thing to hear about it, but it’s another to see the pictures,” said one parent of a Palestinian student at Brookfield High School.The images depicted in one of the school’s washrooms included a drawing of a pig with the word “Allah” written above it, derogatory and offensive language targeting Palestinians, and a swastika.CBC has decided not to publish photos of the graffiti or the identity of the parent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for her son’s safety.“It felt extremely infuriating and disgusting to see so much hate in our school system,” she said, adding that her son is now afraid to enter the school washrooms. She added that she learned about the graffiti through social media before being informed by the school. Students asked to delete photosNearly a week after the graffiti was found, the principal of Brookfield High School sent a letter to parents referring to the images as Islamophobic and antisemitic. The letter said the school administration asked students to delete photos of the graffiti “to limit the exposure and impact of this hate crime.” For James Kafieh, that’s not good enough. “Their approach is simply to erase and pretend like it never happened,” said Kafieh, vice-president of the Palestinian Canadian Congress.“But that doesn’t erase the underlying anti-Palestinian racism at Brookfield High School and within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.” James Kafieh, the vice-president of the Palestinian Canadian Congress, is calling on the OCDSB to better address anti-Palestinian racism. (Provided by James Kafieh )’Substantial’ training needed, says groupThe national advocacy organization is calling for the OCDSB to provide its staff with “meaningful [and] substantial training” to identify and address anti-Palestinian racism. Kafieh says they’re willing to work with the board to make that happen. In a statement to CBC, the OCDSB confirmed that “a hateful act of anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, and antisemitic graffiti” was found on school property. The OCDSB added that counselling and support services are available to students and staff.“We will continue to work closely with our community partners to address the impact of this incident and ensure that all members of the Brookfield High School community feel safe, respected, and supported,” the statement said. Police investigating ‘hate-motivated’ assault on Muslim woman in KanataThe board also said the incident has been reported to the Ottawa Police Service and that their hate and bias crime unit is investigating.Ottawa police did not respond to the CBC’s request for an interview, however.Hearing about hateful graffiti like that which was left in a washroom at Brookfield High School is always ‘quite shocking and quite disconcerting,’ said Steven Zhou, spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims. (Joe Firorino/CBC)Jewish federation also disgustedThe parent CBC spoke to said she hopes the school board will be more transparent going forward and provide parents with information regarding the investigation. Kafieh says a good start would be to call it what it is. “This is clearly targeting Palestinian Canadians, although we all have a right to be offended by this,” he said. In a statement to CBC, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa said it is “appalled” by the graffiti. With anti-Muslim occurrences on the rise, schools in Canada urged to address Islamophobia“As a community that regularly faces racism, we stand in solidarity with all marginalized groups,” the statement read. “Hate directed at any group impacts us all.” This has been happening so much, and with so little response, that it’s almost become a little bit numbing.- Steven Zhou, spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian MuslimsSteven Zhou, a spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said they’ve seen an increase in Islamophobia and acts targeting Palestinian students in classrooms across the country. “It’s always quite shocking and quite disconcerting,” he said. “But there’s also a sense that this has been happening so much, and with so little response, that it’s almost become a little bit numbing.”Zhou said the NCCM would like to see Ontario’s ministry of education acknowledge the issue and stand with the affected communities. “We just hope to see change,” he said. ABOUT THE AUTHORAnchal Sharma is a CBC journalist based in Ottawa. Send her an email at anchal.sharma@cbc.ca
Parents, advocacy groups appalled by ‘hateful’ graffiti found at Ottawa high school
