Students attending protest told to 'wear blue' to mark them as 'colonizers'
Students from several Toronto middle schools were forced to participate in a political protest disguised as a 'field trip'
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Middle-school students forced to take part in a political protest this week were allegedly asked by teachers to wear blue shirts in order to identify them as “settlers” and “colonizers.”
Family members and officials are speaking out after it was revealed this week that several Toronto District School Board middle schools sent Grade 7 and 8 students on a “field trip” to take part in a downtown Toronto political protest.
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Students were ostensibly meant to “observe” the protest supporting Grassy Narrows First Nation and their decades-old water crisis, but the demonstration quickly morphed into an anti-Israel rally, with organizers and students seen on video waving signs and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
But despite letters to parents insisting the schoolchildren were to just “observe” the proceedings, video and eyewitness accounts suggest students were handed face masks and encouraged to take an active role in the demonstration.
A Tweet from the day of the protest by the Elementary Teachers of Toronto specifically mentioned “students” taking part in the protest, with schoolchildren seen on video marching alongside flag-waving union members.
Mona, the cousin of one of students compelled to take part, told the Toronto Sun the Grade 8 student was instructed to wear a blue shirt to identify her as a “colonizer.”
“She was very upset,” Mona said of her cousin, who is Jewish and approached her teacher at the rally to express her discomfort once the anti-Israel chants began.
“The teacher told her, ‘You’ll get over it.'”
One of Mona’s cousin’s classmates — whose family recently immigrated to Canada from India, a nation that endured centuries of colonial rule — reportedly asked their teacher to stop referring to him as a “colonizer.”
Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop said she was left feeling “deeply disappointed.”
“Compromising the security and safety of students is unacceptable,” her statement read. “I expect TDSB to conduct a thorough review and to ensure accountability and clear communication with parents and students to prevent such incidents in the future.”
Among lawmakers alarmed by field trip was Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak.
“It is very frustrating that elements of the anti-Israel mob are using their positions as educators to drive this agenda on impressionable children who know nothing about this conflict in the Middle East,” he told the Sun. “Our education system must nurture young minds in a positive way and not teach them to demonize those they don’t agree with.”
In their statement Thursday, the TDSB agreed students shouldn’t be forced to participate in organized protests disguised as field trips.
“The TDSB will also be reviewing its field trip procedures to provide guidance that upholds the safety and well-being of students,” the statement read.
Spadina-Fort York MP Kevin Vuong wasn’t buying it.
“The TDSB cannot hide behind an unsigned ‘sorry not sorry’ statement,” he said.
“Is anyone going to take accountability for the breach of trust? Children were put at risk. The first step to restoring trust is holding those responsible accountable for their failure,” Vuong said.
“There must be consequences,” he added.
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