Jihad By Any Means

"Somebody was just trying to let this young student trustee out to go to the bathroom, they pushed down the security guard and they grabbed the door."

"They stormed the room. The staff that was standing up there got knocked down, and another was pushed down, trampled all over. One lady she just came -- it was like at a wrestling match -- she ran past everybody and came straight for me. It was horrible."

"There were trustees who were terrified. Some sitting there frozen. Trustees were saying this isn't right, they were afraid."

"In my21 years as a trustee, we've had challenging situations in our boardroom but we've never had anything like this, when staff and trustees are put in a place where they are fearful to the point where people are assaulted." 

"These constant attacks on school board trustees for doing our job and standing up for students has to stop."

David Green, chair, Peel District School Board 

Videos taken from outside the Peel school board meeting show demonstrators surging past security, pushing a large guard into the room. Photo by palestinepdsb /Instagram

"Students across PDSB organized to demand the mic at the monthly PDSB meetings, because their requested delegation was denied. Students had demands for PDSB, they asked the board to listen, but over 60+ community members and students were neglected."

"As the crowd got louder to make sure we are placed on the agenda the entire board walked out on us and decided to proceed their meeting in their own private space."

"The community decided to continue their demand to be heard, so we moved toward their meeting room. The entire board ran away and had security come in to push us out."

"We as a community didn't back down, we stood strongly, and we will continue to be not backed down."

Instagram account version of events from one of the rioters

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Ontario's Peel region just outside Greater Toronto broke up a school board meeting, effectively drowning out elected trustees by chanting, later storming past security into a locked room where the meeting was reconvened by trustees. The Peel School Board chair overheard someone in the raucous crowd urging the group: "They're in that room, bang it down, kick it down if you have to".

 

The Peel District School Board is headquartered in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, where the Muslim population represents about 12% of the population, the second-highest group after Christians at 60%. Before the trustees' board meeting took place, a social media account urged "students, parents and concerned community members" to attend the "call to action", asking people to "bring your flags, keffiyehs, and signs".

 

 

The meeting was broadcast live online by the board, a feed that came to a halt when chaos invaded the meeting. There was an ordinary start, the meeting called to order and the board chair asked people to stand for an Indigenous land acknowledgement and the playing of Canada's national anthem. Most of those in the public gallery stood quietly for the land acknowledgement, but sat when the national anthem began. 

Fifteen minutes into the meeting an audience member began calling out to be recognized to speak and the crowd applauded, many in the gallery standing, waving flags and signs. "I'm going to ask you, please do not disturb the meeting. If you have something to say, I'll stay back and we'll have a conversation", after the meeting, said the board chair, to continued shouting. As the meeting attempted to continue, shouts and calls grew, from the gallery: "Let them speak, let them speak", was chanted.

Mr. Green turned to the trustees explaining that representatives of a group had asked to speak and were informed of the process for delegations from the public to speak to the board. After which there was no response and he assumed the matter was laid to rest. Twenty minutes later, chanting drowned out the trustees while Mr. Green five times asked for order from the gallery. Failing that, he called a recess and trustees filed out as the crowd jeered and chanted "Free, free Palestine".

The meeting was reconvened in a smaller, private conference room, and the doors locked. For 20 minutes the board continued its agenda until knocking began at the door. Minutes later knocking became loud pounding. "If they're banging on the door that hard, it means they got past security. My intention was to end the meeting as quick as possible and get staff and trustees upstairs into a secure area where they can be safe. That didn't happen", he explained later.

Finally a student trustee needed to use the bathroom. "A staff member was trying to open the door slightly so he could go out to go to the bathroom. They just rushed in the room", he said. Demonstrators -- most with their faces covered with keffiyehs -- a symbol of Palestinian nationalism -- surged past security, pushing a guard into the room. Police were not called. Mr. Green met later with some of the protest representatives, one of whom read off to him a statement of demands listed on his phone.

 

 

Demanding that the board issue statements declaring they stood with Palestinians in the current crisis, and calling to stop the 'genocide'. Another demand was that the board ensure no staff or student would be disciplined for defending or putting up Palestinian flags. "We're here in the business to educate kids, we don't get involved in this. We're not into politics", Mr. Green responded.

According to the Instagram post, the confrontation was "the first of many", yet to come. A spokesperson for Peel Regional Police responded that police had not been called to the board office when the protest occurred. A day later, police contacted the board only to be informed the situation had been handled by private security and therefore police involvement was not expected.