In this section of the resource:

• Religious Discrimination
• Understanding Islamophobia
• Understanding Anti-Semitism
• Picture Books for Entry Points
• Plays and Other Sources

"Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, discrimination because of religion (creed) is against the law. Everyone should have access to the same opportunities and benefits, and be treated with equal dignity and respect, regardless of their religion.

Religion includes the practices, beliefs and observances that are part of a faith or religion. It does not include personal moral, ethical or political views. Nor does it include religions that promote violence or hate towards others, or that violate criminal law.

Protection against discrimination applies in the following areas:

• Employment, including job applications, interviews, employment benefits, working conditions, and promotions;
• Housing, including rental housing, hotels, commercial properties, and buying or selling a house;
• Services, goods and facilities, including education, hospitals and health services, stores and restaurants, government programs, and public places and facilities;
• Contracts, such as for buying or selling goods or services;
• Unions, professional associations, and other vocational associations.

It doesn't matter whether or not discrimination is intentional: it is the effect of the behaviour that is important."

- Ontario Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Religious rights (fact sheet). https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/religious-rights-fact-sheet

Islamophobia includes racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear, or acts of hostility directed toward Muslims. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia can unfairly lead to viewing and treating Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level.
- Canadian Heritage, Combatting Islamophobia in Canada

Muslim students are often stereotyped as violent or linked to terrorism because of Islamophobia. These same stereotypes can affect Arab students (even if they are not Muslim), because many people wrongly assume Arabs = Muslims. This creates Arabophobia that overlaps with religious discrimination. (An Introduction to Islamophobia and Anti-Arabism [PDF] by Dr. Rowan Wolf)

Both Muslim and Sikh students can be targeted because of the clothes or symbols they wear (like hijabs for Muslim girls or turbans for Sikh boys). People may wrongly associate these symbols with “foreignness” or danger, leading to harassment. (Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR])

Because religion and ethnic background are often mixed up in people’s minds, Muslim and Sikh students may face hostility for both their faith and how they look or what group they are believed to belong to. Arabophobia contributes to this when prejudice against Arab people overlaps with negative views of Muslims, making school discrimination more likely for students who are assumed to be Arab or Muslim.

Antisemitism is an attitude characterized by hostility and discriminatory behaviour towards Jewish people. Antisemitism has a long history in Canada in fueling discrimination and unfair treatment against Jewish Canadians. [...] Antisemitism in Canada has rarely been restricted to the extremists of society. Rather, it has often been part of the mainstream, shared to varying degrees by all elements of the nation. 
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, Antisemitism in Canada

"Since the Second World War, antisemitism has generally been on the decline in Canada. [...] By the 1970s and 1980s most barriers for Jews had been removed. Human rights commissions, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and scores of statutes and judicial decisions guaranteed that the discrimination once so rampant in Canada against Jews — and others — would never reappear. Jews were now playing an increasingly crucial role in all sectors of Canadian society — in politics, law, medicine, arts and business. However, antisemitism is still present in Canada. This is highlighted by anti-Jewish hate crimes like vandalism and by the activities of some right-wing Holocaust-denial groups." (The Canadian Encyclopedia, Antisemitism in Canada)

Recommendations for high school appropriate plays provided by: