Palestinian and Jewish families call on TDSB to address anti-Palestinian racism

A Palestinian mother whose child is a student with Toronto District School Board (TDSB) claims since the war between Israel and Hamas began, there has been an increase of discrimination, harassment and bullying and Palestinian staff and students are scared to speak up. 

“Palestinian students are sitting at TDSB desks and grieving the loss of family members. They are trying to learn math while worrying about about loved ones they haven’t heard from in days,” said Nadine Nasir.

Nasir is part of a grassroots group of TDSB families that has been pushing the school board to provide better education on the deep-seated history between Israel and Palestine. 

She said the school board’s communications to staff, students and parents about the war have failed to acknowledge the loss of life and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. 

“In two separate communications from the Director of Education and the Chair of the TDSD, the TDSB unequivocally and rightfully condemned the Oct. 7 killing of Israeli civilians and clearly named the perpetrators of these attack. What they did not do was unequivocally condemn the killing of Palestinian civilians and name the perpetrators of those attacks,” continued Nasir.

“The erasure of the loss of Palestinian lives left many of us wondering why the TDSB administration seemingly values some lives over others.”

The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government. Hamas is also holding some 222 people that it captured and brought back to Gaza.

The United Nations says about 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are internally displaced, and they have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the attack.

The group, which also has support from Jewish families, has a list of demands for the school board that include adding anti-Palestinian racism to the TDSB’s equity policy, publicly affirming that students and staff will not be punished for support Palestinian humans and to apologize for the harm done to Palestinian families so far.

The TDSB has issued a statement, saying it’s heard deep concern from a number of communities including Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian and Muslim communities, about the safety of their children.

“We are committed to the TDSB’s anti-hate, anti-racism strategy and human rights policy,” read their statement. “We want to ensure students and staff feel heard through respectful interactions while being sure to stop any form of hate like anti-Semitism or Islamophobia in our classrooms.”

This group that also has support from Jewish families has a list of demands for the school board that include – adding anti- Palestinian racism to the TDSB’s Equity Policy, publicly affirming that students and staff will not be punished for supporting Palestinian human rights and to apologize. 

“As parents of Palestinian children, we are deeply worried for our children’s mental health, safety and freedom of expression, especially in times like these,” said Nasir.

With files from The Associated Press