Anti-Israel protesters took advantage of the suffering of indigenous people to incite hatred

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By Harry S. LaForme, Karen Restoule, and Mark S. Dockstator

Hundreds of students from 15 Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools took part in a field trip on September 18th. The purpose of the trip was to raise students’ awareness of the indigenous community’s “efforts to combat mercury pollution and advocate for their rights regarding mining and logging activities in their territory.” Parents were assured that their children would not participate in the ” Rally” would take part, but would “observe the presentations and discussions and learn from them”.

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This all went haywire when the Grassy Narrows River Run Rally was hijacked by anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters and students were included in their ideologically motivated demonstration.

Protesters used the Grassy Narrows tragedy to advance their own political agenda. Since when do we allow this? This is not education; It is an attempt at indoctrination. The suffering of indigenous people has been trivialized and put into the service of someone else’s false dogma. It was as annoying as it was evil.

The first time we saw the ideologically motivated abuse of children in Canada was when Indigenous children were used as a tool to destroy the culture, way of life and existence of Indigenous peoples. Our children were taken away from us and placed in Indian residential schools to remove them from the “influence of the wigwam” and “kill the Indian in the child.” The last Indian residential school closed in 1996. The devastation and trauma they caused continues to this day.

Fast forward to September 18th, when children were once again used to promote demagoguery – this time to advance the ideology of the anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian movement.

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During the field trip, students should learn about the tragic history of Grassy Narrows; a tragedy that continues to cause deep suffering. For over half a century our people and our children have been and are being poisoned. The children of Grassy Narrows were too often born mutilated and disabled. What was touted as an opportunity for students to learn more about the horrific reality facing the native people of Grassy Narrows has been usurped.

How is it that, given the responsibility and care for our young students, these teachers and adults see long-standing and critical Indigenous health and safety issues as so unimportant that they can be used to promote the anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian creed? Crusade? As is often the case, our voices and our suffering were suppressed and drowned out by others. Are we still nothing but background noise to Canada?

Zionism does not kill – as stated on the stickers handed out to students at the “rally”; Extremism does. The chant of “Turtle Island to Lebanon, Israel will be gone” from anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters promotes terrorism.

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Some of the students on the field trip were Indigenous and know what Turtle Island means. Instead of teaching youth its value in our culture, “Turtle Island” was incorporated into a hateful chant that promotes terrorism and yet may not be fully understood by the students forced to participate.

Fundamentally, indigenous values ​​do not align with pro-terror and hateful messages. They are anathema to the seven sacred teachings of the indigenous people. These values ​​are found in peace and friendship treaties based on the seven sacred teachings – love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth.

These treaties were made hundreds of years ago by the first settlers and indigenous people. They emphasized peaceful, respectful and equal coexistence. They continue to dictate all of our relationships. You apply to the TDSB and its schools – the students, staff and trustees, as well as the broader Canadian community.

We are all contracting parties to the peace and friendship treaties. As a contractual partner, we approach the children and young people of the TDSB. During the “excursion” you should have experienced what it means to be a contractual partner and to live in accordance with the Seven Sacred Teachings.

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Our children and young people, the students of the TDSB, are our welcome and beloved contractual partners. They are not colonizers. The real colonizers are the adults who hijacked the field trip and maliciously co-opted our children and youth contractors to facilitate their anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian demonstration – to promote hatred.

National Truth and Reconciliation Day is approaching. Reconciliation doesn’t just mean saying the words in the land acknowledgments that the TDSB so proudly displays. It’s about the meaning and spirit of land acknowledgments. It is about living in harmony with the Seven Sacred Teachings every day – at school, at home, at work, in all our relationships with those around us. Without truth there can be no reconciliation. That’s what students rightly should be learning about at the Grassy Narrows River Run Rally, not about geopolitical conflicts happening thousands of miles away.

There needs to be a thorough investigation into the events of September 18th. The investigation cannot be conducted by the TDSB, which has proven itself incapable of doing so on so many levels.

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What the TDSB did to children on September 18th is despicable and borders on criminal. It dishonors the very concept of atonement and the Seven Sacred Teachings. Together we must ensure that such politically and ideologically motivated events never happen again.

Specially for National Post

The Honorable Harry S. LaForme OCIPC, Anishinaabe and proud Mississauga member of the Credit First Nation, is a retired appellate judge and attorney.

Karen Restoule, Anishinaabe-Kwe and proud member of the Dokis First Nation, is Vice President at Crestview Strategy and Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Dr. Mark S. Dockstator, Onyota’á:ka and proud member of the Oneida Nation of the Thames, is an Associate Professor in the Chanie Wenjack School of Indigenous Studies at Trent University.

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