Quebec’s largest English-language school board is facing backlash and calls by some parents to apologize over its initial statement about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) first published a message last week in which it offered its heartfelt condolences to those who lost loved ones in Israel during the multi-pronged and surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed and some 200 others, including children, were taken hostage.
Since then, Israel launched its own airstrikes in the Gaza Strip while also cutting off essential supplies and power to the territory. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry has said that more than 2,800 Palestinians have died to date.
The EMSB’s initial post on its website on Oct. 12 — five days after the initial attack in Israel — did not mention Palestinian victims. It was also accompanied by a photo of the Israeli flag, which a spokesperson confirmed was later removed.
“Nowhere in that email did it mourn the Palestinian lives that were killed,” Lamia Tatari, a mother of three children at EMSB schools, told Global News on Wednesday.
The statement garnered a flurry of reaction on the EMSB’s Facebook page, with some commending the message, while others criticized the school board.
“As parents, we felt extremely distressed so we came together to put an email and send it back to them and we didn’t get a response from them,” Tatari said, adding the parents were from various backgrounds.
Fellow parent Jahan Peerally also believes the statement wasn’t neutral, saying “the social media post by EMSB clearly ignores the existence of Christian and Muslim, Arab and Palestinian parents within the EMSB community.”
The EMSB then issued a second statement on Monday, Oct. 16, in which it referred to a “profound sadness at the loss of life in Israel and Gaza.” The school board added it was praying for a peaceful resolution and that it knows the current crisis “will have a deep impact on many members of our community.”
“We wish to reiterate that the deliberate targeting of civilians is never justified,” the school board said. “The EMSB has students and staff of all faiths and a zero tolerance for any acts of hatred and racism. Our commitment is to ensure that our schools are inclusive spaces where everyone, whatever their race or religion, is welcome and feels safe.”
EMSB spokesperson Michael Cohen said the school board published a second statement “to be more balanced” and to follow up on the first.
“Our original statement was strictly focused on the terrorist attack by Hamas. That was the intent,” Cohen said in an interview Wednesday. “We didn’t want to slight anybody.
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“But we heard the parents. We heard from a lot of parents who were upset with it, they didn’t feel we expressed sympathy for the plight of the people in Gaza so we took the time to do that.”
‘It creates division in our community’
The EMSB didn’t apologize for its initial statement. When asked if there will be apology, Cohen said he thinks “we have done what was necessary.”
“At this point I think people should accept that we did what was really asked of us and I don’t really think we need to carry this on much further,” he said.
But parents like Tatari feel the EMSB should apologize and also remove the Israeli flag in its Instagram post on the topic. The school board shouldn’t be taking a political stance on the unfolding conflict, she added.
“This kind of communication, it creates division in our community,” Tatari said. “And it creates biased opinions within parents and it’s dangerous. So, how can I feel safe as a parent to send my kids to an institution that doesn’t do that?”
Concerned parents also noted that several comments made by parents on the EMSB’s original social media post were deleted. Tatari alleges that remarks that accused the school board’s statement of being “one-sided” were removed.
“Whenever we try to bring up the historical context of the current conflict, the comments are deleted and the people are blocked,” Peerally said.
When asked about removing comments, Cohen said the EMSB’s social media expert goes through the board’s posts on a regular basis.
“Anything we deem to be defamatory, we delete. And we do this all the time,” Cohen said. “There was a lot of vicious dialogue on our social media, unacceptable language being used and we have that right. Everyone has the right on their own page to delete what they wish.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
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