Act by Wednesday: TDSB trustees are voting on a deeply flawed antisemitism strategy that threatens fundamental student rights and contradicts its own principles of inclusion

The Toronto District School Board trustees are about to vote on receiving an antisemitism strategy that fundamentally fails its stated mission of creating safe, inclusive schools. While fighting antisemitism is crucial, this strategy actively marginalizes Palestinian students, anti-Zionist Jewish students, and human rights advocates by equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The report's development process systematically excluded anti-Zionist Jewish and Palestinian voices while prioritizing consultations with Zionist and Israeli lobby organizations. Most troublingly, it suggests treating peaceful political expression - like participating in protests or displaying Palestinian flags - as threatening behaviour that requires disciplinary action. This approach not only violates students' rights to free expression but directly contradicts Ontario Human Rights tribunal legal precedent, which has established that views on the Israel-Palestine conflict are political opinions, not discrimination. If implemented, this strategy would create a hostile environment where Palestinian students cannot safely discuss their families' lived experiences of displacement, and where Jewish students who oppose Israeli policies risk being labeled as self-hating or antisemitic. We must act now to prevent the board from implementing a framework that suppresses human rights advocacy and deepens systemic inequities.