Article content continued

The East End Madrassah rents space every Sunday in a high school owned by the Toronto District School Board. The madrassa said in a statement it had operated for almost 40 years and had taught thousands of Muslim students.

“Our curriculum is not intended to promote hatred towards any individual or group of people, rather the children are taught to respect and value other faiths, beliefs and to uphold Canada’s basic values of decency and tolerance,” it said.

But last Thursday, the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre sent an email to a Toronto Islamic centre affiliated with the school to complain about “anti-Semitic material” in the curriculum documents.

The Friends also filed a complaint with the York Region Police Hate Crimes Unit, which has launched an investigation. The Toronto school board said it would “take appropriate action” once police have finished their probe.

“We unreservedly apologize to the Jewish community for the unintentional offence that the item has caused,” the school responded in a statement. “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 school principal did not respond to an email from the National Post asking whether the review would examine sections of the curriculum dealing with jihad and the participation of girls in sports.

Before it was taken off the school website, the curriculum advised boys to physically train so they are “ready for jihad whenever the time comes for it.” It explained that, “jihad means struggle. It means to fight in the way of Allah. Islam believes that we should be able to defend ourselves if an enemy attacks us.”