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School board cites potential ‘Islamophobia’ as reason they cancelled visit from ISIS survivor

November 27, 2021 | | Print Article

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An event featuring ISIS survivor, Yazidi activist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad has been bizarrely canceled by Canada’s largest school board because her horrific story of rape and torture could be offensive to Muslims and foster “Islamophobia.”

Murad was scheduled to speak with students from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in February of 2022 to discuss her book “The Last Girl: My Story Of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State.”

Her story is brutally graphic. It details how she escaped ISIS after being torn from her home and then was sold as a sex slave when she was 19-years-old in 2014, according to The Telegraph.

ISIS slaughtered her brothers and sisters before her eyes and then carted her off. Murad explains in her book how she was raped, tortured, and burned with cigarette butts before she escaped to a refugee camp in Durhok, in northern Iraq three months later. She then made her way to Germany where she now resides.

The superintendent of the Toronto District School Board, Helen Fisher, has now issued a statement that students would not be allowed to attend the event.

When justifying why she canceled Murad’s appearance, Fisher stated that she believes the book would “promote Islamophobia” and claimed that it would be very offensive to her Muslim students.

Fisher’s response incensed TDSB parent Tanya Lee. She wrote a scathing email to the superintendent concerning her decision.

Lee is the founder of “A Room Of Your Own Book Club.” Teenage girls aged 13 to 18 gather from schools across Canada to hear female authors at the organization’s events. The club was the one hosting the event that was canceled by TDSB.

“This is what the Islamic State means. It is a terrorist organization. It has nothing to do with ordinary Muslims. The Toronto school board should be aware of the difference,” Lee wrote to the superintendent.

Lee asserted that Fisher sent her a copy of the school board’s policy on selecting fair, culturally-relevant reading materials, which a TDSB spokesperson said was “a misunderstanding.”

“The equity department does not review and approve books for book clubs,” they stated. The Board claimed they “wanted to provide some clarification” which only confused people more about the cancelation.

“An opinion that did not reflect the position of the Toronto District School Board was shared with the organizer of the book club prior to staff having an opportunity to read the books – something that is routinely done before giving them to students,” their statement read.

The statement contends that “staff are currently reading” Murad’s book and the Board “sincerely apologizes to Ms. Murad (who) has powerful stories to tell,” and then stated that they “believe students would learn a great deal” from her book.

Lee announced, “The book club event for A Room Of Your Own Book Club with Nadia Murad will go ahead across Canada in February. The TDSB has not committed to letting their students attend. This is unfortunate for all involved. A great loss to the students, community, and educators at the TDSB.”

Fisher has banned books previously. In October, the club hosted author and lawyer Marie Henein, one of Canada’s most prominent lawyers and an Egyptian immigrant, who defended Canadian radio host Jian Ghomeshi while he was facing sexual assault charges.

Even though Ghomeshi was acquitted of all charges in 2016, Fisher and the TDSB refused to allow students to attend the event.

Canadian commentator Rex Murphy posited, “For those with a cynical mind — and I am of course exempt from that failing — it might be concluded that equity departments actually hold existence for the sole purpose of contradicting their own purpose. And, in particular, those within school boards have honed that skill to supernal perfection.

“For many of us who have followed the mass murder of the Yazidi people of Iraq and have marveled at the courage of Murad, the TDSB decision came as a shock. It reeked of ignorance and subservience to an Islamist attitude that has infiltrated too many institutions of Canada, especially urban schools where cafeterias have been turned into prayer halls, with gender apartheid on full display,” wrote Tarak Fateh in the Toronto Sun.

Three months ago, the TDSB reportedly began a crackdown on European children’s literature and destroyed 5,000 books for being “offensive” to indigenous people as well.

There was collective outrage over the Canadian censorship of Murad:

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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