We call on the Ministry of Education to add the Nakba to the B.C. elementary and secondary Social Studies curricula. This is an urgent issue in light of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and alarming rise in anti-Palestinian racism in our schools here at home.

The Nakba, or “catastrophe,” which took place between 1947 and 1949, was the violent dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that led to the creation of the state of Israel. Over 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes, more than 15,000 were massacred, and over 500 of their villages were destroyed.

As violence in Gaza dominates headlines, B.C. students are asking critical questions — but classrooms lack the historical context needed to answer. We are calling on you to equip teachers with the tools to teach the history of Palestine — starting with the Nakba.

Omitting the Nakba and the history of Palestinian People from the classroom also sends a message to Palestinian and Arab students, families, and colleagues that their stories are to be ignored and erased. This is Anti-Palestinian Racism in action, and it is important that the government take action to ensure safer schools for all students.

The B.C. Social Studies curricula focus on historical atrocities including the colonization of Turtle Island (North America), the Holocaust, and the Rwandan genocide, but there is no mention whatsoever of the Nakba. To uphold our commitment to social justice, decolonization, and reconciliation, we must teach students about the history of Palestine and Israel.

It is time we teach about the Nakba. I demand that the Ministry of Education add the Nakba to the curriculum NOW.