On Wednesday evening, the Toronto District School Board held a lengthy meeting to take a vote over whether to censure trustee Alexandra Lulka. Lulka—who is Jewish—took to Twitter and Facebook to voice her concerns over some teaching material being passed around by a pro-Palestinian teacher and activist. The materials linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, listed as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government, and legitimized suicide bombings.
But while the TDSB staffer behind the inflammatory materials, Javier Dávila, was briefly suspended, Lulka’s censure was more surprising—and caused widespread outrage across Toronto’s Jewish community and provincial politicians.
The convoluted controversy came to a head at Wednesday’s board meeting, where trustees criticized the debacle, one member asked aloud if the TDSB could get away with doing nothing at all and Lulka ultimately came away with a slim victory.
What we talked about:
- Read the investigation report about Lulka here
- Read “Toronto school board rejects call to censure trustee Alexandra Lulka for speaking out about antisemitism in teaching materials” at thecjn.ca
- Read “Toronto school board trustee Alexandra Lulka criticized for calling out antisemitic teaching resources” at thecjn.ca
- Check out Crown Lands music.
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.