Time to Challenge Canadian Schools’ Anti-Palestinian Racism

By Yves Engler

Whereas Jewish settlers launch pogroms and Israeli ministers name to “wipe out” Palestinian cities, Canadian colleges suppress Palestinian symbols and rejoice colonial violence.

Final week Park West Faculty in Halifax compelled a half dozen Palestinian-Canadian college students to take away Kufiyahs they had been sporting throughout a cross-cultural day. In a flagrant show of anti-Palestinian racism, the principal stated the Palestinian scarf “represents the colours of struggle.”

In an analogous case of cultural/political suppression, Palestinian college students in Ottawa had been blocked from flying the Palestinian flag alongside these from dozens of different nations. The Palestinian Youth Motion has been engaged in a year-long battle with the Ottawa Carleton District Faculty Board over anti-Palestinian discrimination.

Not too long ago a visitor speaker, a part of the English Montréal Faculty Board Holocaust Schooling Program, instructed Westmount highschool college students that folks say “Israel is a horrible nation, [that] they’re abusing the Palestinians – which is a bunch of crap. I lived in Israel.

Belief me they’re doing every thing however abusing the Palestinians.” Human Rights Watch, Amnesty Worldwide, and different institution human rights teams have concluded Israel is committing the crime of apartheid.

Final month the Canadian Antisemitism Schooling Basis complained to the Toronto Solar a couple of workshop provided by an Ontario Secondary Faculty Lecturers Basis (OSSTF) native titled “Anti-Palestinian racism: Nakba denial.” Lately pro-Israel teams have lobbied Canadian faculty boards to undertake the Worldwide Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) anti-Palestinian definition of antisemitism.

Whereas Palestinian solidarity and symbols are focused, colleges expose youngsters to aggressive pro-Israel messages. On January 24 the Jewish Nationwide Fund of Canada reported, “270 college students from varied Jewish day colleges in Montreal participated in JNF Day at Beth Zion Synagogue.” A big map displaying the grade schoolers included the illegally occupied West Financial institution as Israel.

The children had been in all probability subjected to different anti-Palestinian positions. The session was led by JNF Academic Emissary, Yifat Bear Miller, who spent greater than a decade as an schooling officer for the Israeli army. A registered Canadian charity, the JNF is an explicitly racist establishment that’s performed an essential position within the colonization of Palestine.

The JNF educates Canadian educators in its racist worldview. On the “JNF Educators mission to Israel” contributors “Study Eco–Zionism and the connection between Judaism, Israel, and the atmosphere”.

In a current JNF Canada Fb submit a younger pupil is sporting an Israel Protection Forces shirt. Has any Canadian faculty banned shirts selling this violent group?

At Canada’s largest personal highschool children are pressured to put on IDF shirts. Throughout “IDF Days” at Toronto TanenbaumCHAT they fundraise for Israeli army initiatives. A abstract of a 2020 IDF day famous, “Shavuah Yisrael continued immediately with IDF day. The TanenbaumCHAT group — underneath the management of our Schlichim [Israeli emissaries] Lee and Ariel — confirmed their help for the Israel Defence Forces by sporting inexperienced, consuming inexperienced, and donating inexperienced! Proceeds from the scrumptious green-sprinkled donuts that had been offered throughout the 10-minute break are being donated to assist the well-being of Israeli troopers on lively responsibility on behalf of TanenbaumCHAT via the Affiliation for the Troopers of Israel – Canada.”

Latest posts on the college’s Fb web page point out a presentation by a former member of an elite IDF unit and college students taught “Krav Maga is a martial artwork developed by the IDF”. In keeping with TanenbaumCHAT’s assertion of function, “Israel engagement pervades our curricular and extracurricular programming and it’s a shared imaginative and prescient–a part of the consciousness of all our academics and educators. By means of connecting with our workers, friends and visiting audio system, our college students develop relationships with Israeli friends and different Israeli position fashions. College students take pleasure in particular Israel weeks and IDF days.”

As a part of TanenbaumCHAT’s Israel engagement, some college students attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in Washington, D.C. In 2019 there was controversy over one of many faculty’s academics, Aviva Polonsky, who posted a bunch image on social media of her college students assembly Sebastian Gorka, a far-right determine within the Donald Trump administration. Polonsky has said publicly that she doesn’t settle for college students expressing non-Zionist views in her lessons.

Netivot HaTorah, Bialik Hebrew Day Faculty, Bnei Akiva, Toronto Heschel Faculty are different colleges breeding anti-Palestinianism. A December submit from Leo Baeck Day Faculty notes, “we’re a Zionist establishment with a core accountability to protect Israel.” An Israeli emissary spends a 12 months on the Toronto elementary faculty and after they return, famous the Canadian Jewish Information, “engages with college students by means of reside video chat from their Israel Defence Forces barracks dressed of their army uniforms.” Leo Baeck college students additionally pay “tribute” to Israel’s fallen heroes” and fundraise for Beit Halochem Canada/Support to Disabled Veterans of Israel, which helps injured IDF troopers.

In a damning touch upon Canadian political tradition, some colleges rejoice the colonizers’ army whereas others repress symbols of the colonized. Happily, there’s been some resistance. 1000’s emailed and dozens rallied in opposition to the current banning of Kufiyahs in Halifax, which prompted officers to label the incident a misunderstanding.

The Palestinian Youth Motion has organized protests in opposition to discrimination in Ottawa colleges and a father or mother complained concerning the anti-Palestinian remark made at Westmount Highschool (these incidents have solely come to mild due to the protests)

Whereas important, defensive protests are inadequate. There ought to be public letters and rallies difficult “IDF Days” and the colonial indoctrination at Canada’s largest personal faculty. We have to straight problem colleges breeding anti-Palestinian racism.

 – Yves Engler is the creator of Canada and Israel: Constructing Apartheid and numerous different books. He contributed this text to The Palestine Chronicle. Go to his web site: yvesengler.com.