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‘I reside in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and my baby is just not in class as a result of she’s Jewish. That’s insane,’ says mom of Grade 11 pupil
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Printed Could 28, 2024 • Final up to date Could 28, 2024 • 5 minute learn
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A photograph from the Burlington Central Excessive College occasion. Photograph by Equipped
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An Ontario mom has pulled her Jewish daughter out of highschool fearing she is now not secure, saying the varsity is permitting and inspiring pro-Palestinian activists to show and promote threatening antisemitic messages.
“I live in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and my child is not in school because she’s Jewish. That’s insane,” stated Anissa Hersh, after withdrawing her daughter from Burlington Central Excessive College final week.
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“I can’t believe that this is happening. My daughter, who does really well at school, she loves school, isn’t able to attend public school, unless she is willing to hide her Judaism.
“There are certain levels of antisemitism that I can deal with,” Hersh stated, “however, since October 7, things have gotten much, much worse,” a reference to the date of the lethal 2023 Hamas terror assaults on Israel, adopted by an Israeli counterattack in Gaza.
Her daughter, in grade 11 and who didn’t need to be named, stated: “Since October 7, I’ve had a hard time going to school. Mentally I have had to prepare myself each morning.”
They stated it began with college students making antisemitic feedback to her daughter and to her buddies about her being a Jew. There have been pupil walkouts about Gaza. Someday, a van pulled up beside her on faculty property and other people inside began yelling that everybody must stand up and free Palestine, they stated.
“But this is not anything that I would have pulled my daughter out of school for; I wasn’t happy about it, and we always contacted the school, and the inaction of the school is infamous,” stated Hersh.
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The breaking level got here final Thursday.
Burlington Central Excessive College in Burlington, Ont. Photograph by Google Maps / Screenshot
Her daughter had paintings included in a faculty exhibit and Hersh went to see it, she stated. Within the faculty auditorium there was an “Arts & Culture” occasion. The principle occasion appeared like a Gaza protest.
“They had a huge booth, and it was labeled Palestine. There was a map: the state of Israel was relabeled as Palestine with the Palestinian colours on it; (there was) information such as Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, Bethlehem is in Palestine. So literally a cultural day that is erasing Jewish history and rewriting history to suit a particular narrative,” Hersh stated.
The varsity permitted college students to put on T-shirts and jewellery depicting the eradication of Israel, mom and daughter stated.
“When I approached the administration — they were in the room — they told me to calm down because they were just kids.
“Jews are the only minority marginalized group that gets to be told by other people what is and what isn’t offensive. No other group would be told to calm down and to relax.
“When the teachers said those things — calm down, it’s not a big deal — the students are emboldened and start saying things like ‘there is no Israel there is only Palestine.’ So don’t tell me that that’s not inappropriate, or calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. The denial of the state of Israel is being endorsed by these teachers and the administration.”
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She stated she felt the varsity was now not a secure place for her daughter.
Ontario’s schooling minister, Stephen Lecce, stated the varsity board that runs Burlington Central Excessive must smarten up in terms of addressing antisemitism.
“The gross rise of antisemitism needs to be a wake-up call to the director and leadership of the Halton District School Board to do something about this disturbing trend,” Lecce informed Ontario Chronicle.
“I have assured Mrs. Hersh that we will communicate my expectations to the director that the Halton District School Board take action on these unacceptable incidents and apply the same level of concern and enforcement to hate as they would for anyone else.”
The board acknowledges the antisemitic incident on the Arts & Craft occasion with a map displayed that had eliminated Israel.
The varsity board describes it as an after-school exercise “organized by students to celebrate different cultures within the school community,” stated spokeswoman Heather Francey.
“The Halton District School Board does not tolerate the erasure of any nation or identity and views the erasure of Israel from a map as antisemitic. I can assure you that staff are investigating this issue.
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“Antisemitism, and racism in any form, is not tolerated at any of our schools…. The school principal has communicated with students, families and staff about this incident, underscoring school processes and expectations.
“The safety and well-being of students is our highest priority. As educators, we continue to centre human rights and provide an environment that is inclusive and respectful, and where the humanity of all students, staff and communities is upheld.”
Hersh stated she was disheartened when she complained to the varsity and stated she was withdrawing her daughter for security causes.
“The only thing they did was they sent me information on how my daughter could finish school at home. That was their solution. Let my daughter finish school at home. Then they can wipe their hands,” Hersh stated.
“She didn’t do anything wrong, and now she is paying the price for inaction of the schools. We don’t know what we’re going to do next year. Do we have to move? Do we have to relocate so that our daughter can go to a school where we can be assured that it won’t matter that she’s Jewish?”
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On Monday night, three hours after the Ontario Chronicle requested the varsity board about final week’s incident, the board despatched an e-mail to the Burlington Central faculty group about “incidents” on the tradition occasion.
In it, the board stated the map on the occasion was antisemitic, simply because the board’s assertion to the Publish stated, that was despatched on Tuesday morning about “an incident.” The letter to the group, nevertheless, stated that “discriminatory behaviour was also directed toward some students at our school who were targeted by a community member for wearing a keffiyeh and jewelry with a Palestinian flag. This behaviour demonstrates anti-Palentinian (sic) racism and is not tolerated in our school.”
The letter continued: “We are deeply concerned by these events and share our community’s concerns that these incidents are harmful and unacceptable. Antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and racism in any form, is not tolerated at our school.”
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