Toronto (July 16, 2021) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is demanding answers from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) after learning today that one of its staff members who distributed vile antisemitic and anti-Israel materials has been reportedly reinstated to his position of Student Equity Program Advisor.

FSWC has been flooded with calls and emails from teachers and parents who are in shock after Javier Davila released a statement today claiming he has been “reinstated without discipline.” This comes after he was suspended and placed under investigation in May in response to emails he had sent to TDSB teachers and administrators with dozens of pages of one-sided resources demonizing Israel and its Jewish people with falsehoods as well as promoting the antisemitic BDS movement, materials highlighting Palestinian terrorists and a website featuring documents from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Canada has designated as a terrorist entity.

“This individual, who serves as a specialist in equity and diversity, sent out more than 100 pages of resources to teachers demonizing and dehumanizing Jews and Israel with vile and incendiary lies and misinformation, including a recommendation that teachers turn to a website featuring documents from a terrorist organization to learn more,” FSWC’s Director of Policy Jaime Kirzner-Roberts stated in a letter to TDSB Director of Education Karen Falconer. “[Davila] claims to have been let off the hook by TDSB with absolutely no consequences for his actions. If this is an accurate description of the facts, we find this outcome incomprehensible and outrageous. What message does this send to the Jewish teachers and students in your board?”

FSWC is awaiting a response from the TDSB and will communicate such information once received. After recently receiving funding from the Ontario government to work to address antisemitism in schools, FSWC is shocked that there is impunity for an individual who has spread such malicious materials throughout the TDSB.