Family awaits proper apology after son was target of anti-Palestinian slight

The Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba is calling out the Gray Academy of Jewish Education after it says a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was the target of racism from one of its students.

Ramsey Zeid, president of the association, said the boy from Laidlaw School had just finished playing a basketball game against the Gray Academy team at the school at the Asper Jewish Community Campus, when he noticed his cellphone, which had a sticker on it that said “Palestine,” had been drenched in water and covered with an Israeli flag.

“This wasn’t schoolyard mischief. It was a targeted act of anti-Palestinian racism,” Zeid said Thursday.

Zeid said the boy is his nephew. The boy’s family complained to Gray Academy within days of the mid-January incident, hoping it could be resolved as a teachable moment with the student offering an apology.

Instead, after weeks of meeting with school officials, Zeid said all the parents and their son were shown was a letter written by the student, who is in Grade 9, that only said he was sorry. It said nothing about why he was apologizing or why he did it.

“There was no accountability,” Zeid said. “Nothing. We don’t know whether he was disciplined or not. We don’t want to know the name of the child, only that something was done about it.”

He said his nephew’s parents want to make sure the behaviour stops.

In a statement, the Gray Academy acknowledged an incident had occurred between students from its school and another institution in January.

“In keeping with the Public Schools Act and the Safe and Caring Schools Framework, we have robust processes in place to address such matters with an emphasis on accountability, education and support. We have followed these processes to ensure the matter was handled appropriately, in collaboration with the other school and school division.

“Our primary focus remains on providing a safe and inclusive environment for all students and visitors.”

The statement said the school will not be commenting further on the incident to protect the privacy of students.

A statement from the Pembina Trails School Division confirmed it “has worked with Gray Academy, and the students involved, to address the situation in a manner consistent with divisional practice and procedure.

“The role of the education system, in circumstances such as this, is to respond in a way that teaches, promotes accountability, and applies restorative practices so students can learn from the experience. The objective is education, understanding and growth; not simply punishment.”

The division said because of privacy legislation it can’t release personal information, including whether the student faced any disciplinary or corrective action.

The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg said it would not be commenting about the matter.

Tarek Zeid, the boy’s father, said when his son got home after the game and told him what happened, he initially thought “it was kids being kids.”

“The school would talk to the child who did this and an apology would be given and everyone would move on with their lives,” he said.

He said a meeting was set up with school officials within days of the incident, but almost two months later the family is still waiting for an apology that acknowledges what happened, and that it was wrong.

“It’s unacceptable,” the boy’s father said.

“I told them that had this situation been flipped around, and my boy had done that, I would have had him go to the school and apologize. I would have, too. A wrong is a wrong no matter who you are.”

He said the Gray Academy student’s mother said her son would apologize in person, but after she spoke with her family, he was told that would not happen.

The father said it is his son who has been asking him in recent days if he has done something inappropriate.

“He has asked me, ‘Should I apologize? Did I do something wrong? Should I not be proud of being Palestinian?’

“‘What is this teaching our children?’ I said during the meeting, ‘What if I brought 100 people with Palestinian flags to cheer on the (basketball) team?’ And the principal said ‘that’s not right,’ and I said, ‘exactly.’

“But it’s OK for this to be done to my child?”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca