Based on accounts from parents and teachers, along with photos, a teacher added two keffiyeh — a symbol of violent resistance against Israeli Jews — to the Asian Heritage Month display last Friday, arguing that the Middle East is technically part of Asia. Islamic History Month, however, is observed in October, which calls the teacher’s motives for prominently featuring Palestinian jihadi symbols next to a Jewish cultural display into question. Either way, the effect was to politicize what was supposed to be an innocuous celebration of the school’s multiculturalism.

Then, on Tuesday, the displays were abruptly moved to a remote corner of the library, where they cannot be seen by parents or other visitors. Books about Islam were also added to the exhibit, which can be seen from a photo. A number of Jewish families expressed concern to me, and in emails to the principal that I have viewed, that the decision may have been made because their cultural identity had become too controversial. The school’s principal refused to answer questions about why she made the call, and a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) spokesperson claimed that, “As both displays continued to grow, they were relocated to the library to better support student engagement.” Yet the new space is much smaller than the old one.