Rescind the invitation to allow US-based Project Shema to offer “anti-semitism” training
Sid Shniad
A letter to the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) Executive and Vancouver School Board (VSB) trustees
October 18, 2024
Dear DPAC Executive and VSB trustees,
We are a group of parents whose children attend schools in Vancouver. We are members of Parents 4 Palestine and the parents’ caucus of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) — Vancouver. Parents 4 Palestine is a multiracial, interfaith, inclusive community of families on unceded Coast Salish territories that includes Palestinian and Jewish parents. IJV is an organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all.
It has come to our attention that the Vancouver School Board’s (VSB) District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) has arranged for the US-based Project Shema to present to parents and invited guests on October 30, 2024. The stated goal of the workshop is to combat antisemitism in schools and workplaces. We believe this important work needs to take place, but we are alarmed at your flawed choice of workshop provider.
Project Shema and its founder have faced resistance across the US for disseminating materials that minimize and legitimize Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. The organization is closely aligned with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which is widely recognized as a pro-Israel political advocacy organization that has a history of subverting social justice initiatives in the US. School districts in the US have petitioned against Project Shema trainings in their schools.
Project Shema’s founder and Executive Director publicly equates anti zionism with antisemitism. These two concepts are not the same. Antisemitism is discrimination against or hatred of Jewish people. Zionism is a nationalist political ideology that legitimizes the existence of the state of Israel. Zionism is deadly to Palestinians, and conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism is harmful to Jews. Countless Jewish people have opposed the existence of an ethnonationalist state since its inception and reject the assertion that opposing the State of Israel and/or the war crimes and crimes against humanity that it has committed in Palestine is antisemitic.
Project Shema’s trainings encourage people to silence critiques of Israel by framing discussions about objectively verifiable facts related to Israel as antisemitic attacks on Jewish people. Project Shema advises people that using the words “genocide” and “racist” to describe Israel and its actions constitutes “anti-Jewish harm.” It is an indisputable fact that Israel is currently on trial for the crime of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). A recent UN investigation found that Israel was committing war crimes and documented crimes against humanity. UN experts have described Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories as “apartheid.” These are facts and denying them constitutes anti-Palestinian racism.
Under the guise of providing education about antisemitism, Project Shema encourages PACs to adopt resources and frameworks that minimize the harm being done to Palestinians by Israel. As parents, allies, and community members, we are concerned that an organization affiliated with an American lobby group that promotes a factually inaccurate public image of Israel and advances anti-Palestinian racism is seeking to influence BC public schools.
We believe in international law and expect our schools to be a place where the idea that human rights are inherent, inalienable and applicable to all people — as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — is taught instead of silenced.
Antisemitism education is critical work and it must be undertaken by an organization with a demonstrated commitment to anti-oppression. Project Shema is not that organization. Our children should learn at school that they are part of a shared humanity, and that principles of human rights and human dignity exist, matter, and must be protected. We teach our children that every child matters and that as a global community, these rights are defined and protected through UNDRIP and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. IJV provides antisemitism training and would be pleased to provide a session to DPAC.
To conclude, the choice made by DPAC to hire Project Shema for this important work is unacceptable. We ask that DPAC:
● Rescind the invitation to Project Shema as a workshop facilitator for the 30th of October;
● Invite IJV to present its own widely respected workshop on antisemitism to DPAC instead;
● Invite Parents 4 Palestine to present on Anti-Palestinian Racism that Palestinian children and teachers face within Vancouver schools to DPAC.
If the presentation goes ahead as scheduled, the task ahead for DPAC will be mitigating the inevitable harm that will come from Project Shema’s framing, both for the families of Jewish anti-zionist students and Palestinians who continue to be dehumanized by this rhetoric.
Signed,
Parents 4 Palestine Vancouver | storytime...@gmail.com
Independent Jewish Voices — Vancouver | ijv.vanco...@gmail.com