Toronto students forced to wear 'Colonizers' shirts at anti-Israel protest

[rog]

6. Is this really how it happened? I looked at the supposedly incriminating video ...

Last edited Sat Sep 21, 2024, 12:49 PM - Edit history (1)

... posted on xitter, and it just showed a long shot of the stage with someone doing a pro-Palestine speech which instigated some call-and-response from the crowd. The camera was located on the fringe of the crowd, and a panning shot showed no one that I could see wearing a 'colonizer' blue shirt. Ultimately it showed a few middle school aged kids standing around, casually talking to each other, laughing, and checking out the scene. Two of the kids held a banner that simply said 'River Run'. They were not even close to demonstrating.

I don't see any photos or videos that show people wearing masks.

The event is described here: a walk at Grange Park, a chance to hear from affected First Nations re. mercury pollution at Grassy Narrows. https://ontarionature.org/event/grassy-narrows-river-run-2024/

The two most likely explanations seem to be:

1. the First Nations event was infiltrated by protesters whose concerns have nothing to do with mercury and are halfway around the world, or ...

2. the students went to a different rally.

My uneducated guess is that it might be #1.

Edited to add that this article has a photo at the top of the article that shows someone with a bandana holding a pro-Palestine banner ... he is an adult with a beard, standing next to another adult. The article includes a Xitter post that I imagine is intended to be incriminating, posted by the Elementary Teachers of Toronto.

In that post, there are 3 photos of a peaceful march in support of First Nation rights, none of which appear to show middle school kids. All the people in the foreground appear to be adults ... 'maybe' teachers? Is this even associated with the field trip? I don't see any evidence, or any reference to the field trip ... just teachers marching in solidarity. The caption in the post simply says, "Marching the streets with students, parents & teachers united in our demand for justice for @FreeGrassy. Clean water is a human right. We’re here to ensure that right is honoured for all communities. Together we can create a future where every child thrives with clean water & air."

Also, the School Board is looking into this.

What I saw in a search was the same article posted verbatim in many different tabloid-type publications, many of which had embedded Xitter inks. I imagine the situation is a lot more nuanced than is reported here, and that the students were caught in a protest cross-fire. I'll wait to find out if there was coercion on the part of the teachers, but on the surface that just sounds like a stretch.

I'm also willing to be convinced otherwise.

.rog.