Students at numerous schools in and around Toronto have carried out walkout marches this week, declaring their support for Palestine at the same time the Jewish community is commemorating the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks.
Despite instructions by Ontario’s Minister of Education Jill Dunlop—who demanded that schools refrain from allowing students to engage with political or inflammatory demonstrations on the fraught anniversary date—students at more than a dozen secondary schools, and at least one elementary school, participated in pro-Palestine and anti-Israel protests, according to witnesses.
Tamara Gottlieb, a founding member of the Jewish Educators and Families Association (JEFA), says schools in Mississauga and Toronto had students participate in political demonstrations, with many of them commencing on school property.
About 60 students at Scarborough’s Winston Churchill Collegiate congregated before the entrance of the school on Monday morning for about half an hour, before being escorted by police officers along nearby streets, according to Gottlieb’s account of the walkout, which she witnessed.
Students were seen wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, while chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine is almost free,” as seen in videos viewed by The Canadian Jewish News.
“This is no longer about Oct. 7 or the anniversary of Oct. 7,” said Gottlieb. “This is about Canadian values and our Canadian schools. Are our schools going to be safe places for all students to learn? Or are our schools going to be the places for kids to gather and facilitate more of these protests?”
Gottlieb blames the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and other school boards for not addressing clear instructions by the ministry of education to avoid anti-Israel activity on school property.
Ryan Bird, the TDSB communications officer, said he is not aware of teachers’ involvement with any political walkouts this week.
“The TDSB was not involved in organizing these walkouts, nor were we in a position to permit them or stop them from occurring,” he said in an email statement. “Participating students were advised that the walkout must take place off school property,” he added.
Bird also mentioned that students under the age of 18 require parental permission to leave class. Any students who participated in Monday’s walkout should be marked absent, he said.
One parent in Peel Region—who chose to remain anonymous—told The Canadian Jewish News that several schools in Mississauga saw pro-Palestine walkouts, including a middle school under the Peel District School Board (PDSB).
Images show students between the ages of 11 and 13 congregating at the entrance of Thomas Street Middle School after an adult parked her vehicle on school property and began distributing Palestinian flags and signs. Witnesses say about 100 students participated in the walkout, which occurred around 12 p.m. on Monday.
The previous Friday, the principal of Thomas Street Middle School sent an email to parents, warning them of the walkout. “I am writing to inform you that some of our students are planning to participate in a demonstration on Monday Oct. 7, in response to the current world events in the Middle East,” wrote Chris Casey. “Please note that students who are participating will be marked absent.”
The principal added that PDSB is “committed to creating and maintaining identity-affirming learning spaces where all students feel safe, belong, and are seen.”
A Jewish parent of two young kids in Peel Region told The Canadian Jewish News that these protests make it less safe for his family and the wider Jewish community in Mississauga, which has already seen a dramatic uptick in antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7 last year. Noting that the day is already rife with emotion for Jews, he said that protests like this stand to gaslight and dismiss Jewish suffering. “They can’t even give us a day to mourn,” he said.
Other political demonstrations at schools continued throughout the week.
About 100 students at Stephen Lewis Secondary School in Mississauga gathered at the front entrance around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9. They remained there for about 20 minutes, while holding signs, until the school’s principal told them to leave the premises.
Hoisting Palestinian flags, students marched down Thomas Street, shouting chants such as “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”
This surge of protests occurred weeks after a controversial Toronto field trip in September, which saw students from multiple schools under the TDSB chanting inflammatory slogans related to Israel’s war against Hamas, prompting an investigation by Ontario’s ministry of education.
Dunlop, who announced her provincial education ministry’s investigation a week after the field trip, sent a note to all Ontario school boards in late September, warning them to refrain from allowing students to engage with political or inflammatory demonstrations during the anniversary date of Oct. 7.
During a subsequent TDSB board hearing, one parent voiced his concerns about what he calls a “prescribed revolution,” as more students begin expressing anti-Israel views in Toronto schools.
Ali Saidatan, whose daughter is enrolled in a TDSB school, spoke to the board about his childhood in Iran under the Islamic Regime. Currently the educational director of Tafsik, a grassroots organization aimed at combating antisemitism, Saidatan spoke about how the “entire school system (in Iran) became a place of indoctrination,” back in 1979.
After learning about the recent high school walkouts, Saidatan told The Canadian Jewish News he blames teachers, principles, and school boards for fostering a school system that is “a branch of an ideological movement disguised as helping people.”
In an open letter sent to the ministry of education on Sept. 11, 2024, the TDSB cited an “urgent need for a comprehensive and unified approach to addressing hate and geopolitical tensions within Ontario’s schools.”
The Toronto school board called for clarified definitions of hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, comprehensive training for teachers and resources to help them navigate geopolitical tensions in and beyond the classroom.
