Ontario school board investigating video showing comments staff member made towards student wearing a keffiyeh

A staff member at an Ontario school has been placed on home assignment after video of what the board is calling “harmful and discriminatory” language directed at a student wearing a keffiyeh surfaced online.

The incident, which took place at Iroquois Ridge High School in Oakville, Ont., happened on April 26 in the school’s office.

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The video, which was shared by the Muslim Advisory Council of Canada (MACC), appears to show a student wearing a keffiyeh in conversation with the staff member as several students watch the exchange.

The garment is commonly worn by Arabs and Muslims but has also become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.

“I want you to be careful so you don’t get judged by that,” the staff member is heard saying to the student. “I said that. Did you not hear that?”

“I heard the part where you called me a terrorist,” the student says.

“That’s the only part you heard?” the staff member responds. “I didn’t call you a terrorist. I said it (the keffiyeh) reminds me of…” When the student asks the staff member if his garment reminds her of Hamas, the group Canada has labelled as a terrorist group since 2002, she says “yes.”

The MACC and Halton District School Board (HDSB) both called the incident “harmful and discriminatory” and said the staff member used anti-Palestinian racist language in her comments to the student.

“Reacting promptly, the board placed the educator on administrative leave and has initiated a comprehensive investigation to maintain a safe and supportive educational environment,” MACC said in a statement applauding the board’s actions.

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, the HDSB said: “Iroquois Ridge HS, along with all schools in the Halton District School Board (HDSB), strongly condemns this behaviour and are committed to upholding the Human Rights Code.”

The province’s education minister also weighed in on the video that’s been viewed almost 250,000 times, calling the comments “unacceptable and deeply offensive.”

“We expect education staff to model behaviour and create a learning environment where everyone belongs,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce told CTV News Toronto Monday morning.

“I am glad that Halton District School Board has taken swift action on this matter,” he said.

Keffiyeh ban remains at Queen’s Park

The black-and-white checkered scarf made headlines at Queen’s Park earlier this month after House Speaker Ted Arnott announced a ban on the garment, saying it had become akin to a political statement in recent months.

On Thursday, Arnott asked Independent MPP Sarah Jama to leave the chamber for wearing the keffiyeh. She did not leave, but was “named” for the day, meaning she could not vote on matters before the assembly.

The garment has been around for centuries, if not thousands of years, and has been increasingly seen at pro-Palestinian rallies following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war.

Jama has said she has Palestinian relatives and that wearing the keffiyeh is the least she can do to show solidarity.

"The repression against Palestinians and the anti-Palestinian racism in this place (Queen’s Park) needs to continue to be called out," she said last week, adding that she will continue to continue to wear it.

All four provincial party leaders, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, have called for the ban to be reversed. NDP Leader Marit Stiles has tried twice, but failed, to get unanimous consent to allow the garment in the House. Stiles said Friday she and her party plan to “defy” the ban when lawmakers return after 10-day break next week.