Original source (on modern site)
Sheema Khan is the author of Of Hockey and Hijab: Reflections of a Canadian Muslim Woman. In 2008, Ontario marked Aug. 1 as Emancipation Day going forward, with the Emancipation Day Act recognizing the long-standing contributions of Ontario's Black community to Ontario and Upper Canada. It acknowledged the Ontario Black History Society, which is "dedicated to the study, preservation and promotion of the history of Ontario's Black community." It recognized the "ongoing struggle for human rights and freedom from repression for persons of all races": a worthy aspiration toward a just society, with respect for human dignity at its core. This bill was the first in Ontario's history to be co-sponsored by MPPs of different parties. Maria Van Bommel, a Liberal, and Ted Arnott, a Progressive Conservative, worked across party lines to see it through. Today, Mr. Arnott - in his 34th year as a member of provincial Parliament - is the Speaker of the Ontario legislature. In March, he banned the keffiyeh from being worn at Queen's Park, after conducting "research" following a complaint from an unnamed MPP. It does not seem Mr. Arnott's research's involved a deep understanding of the scarf's cultural and historical significance. Asking a Palestinian to remove the keffiyeh is like asking a Muslim woman to remove her hijab or an Indigenous person to remove their headdress. It is an article of clothing deeply embedded with one's culture and identity. It is also political. Many are donning it to show solidarity with Palestinians who are being massacred in Gaza and terrorized in the West Bank. But it is certainly not only political. Nonetheless, Mr. Arnott issued his ruling: "I concluded that the wearing of keffiyehs at the present time in our Assembly is intended to be a political statement … I cannot authorize the wearing of keffiyehs." He has banned a piece of clothing that he has deemed exclusively political, in an institution whose raison d'être is politics. What's next? The banishment of snacking on watermelon at Queen's Park, given that it is also a symbol of Palestinian resistance? With his ruling, he has unilaterally decided what the keffiyeh means to each and every wearer. This blunt-force ban is unacceptable. As a result of his decision, Palestinian-Canadians were barred from entering the legislature or attending Question Period while wearing a keffiyeh. Dania Majid, who was supposed to meet with Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles at Queen's Park, was effectively forced to choose between her cultural identity and meeting with an elected representative in the people's assembly. On Monday, Mr. Arnott changed his ruling, such that it now only extends to the legislative chamber, rather than the entire building. The ruling seems blissfully ignorant of anti-Palestinian racism. Last fall, college students Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Hisham Awartani were out for an evening stroll in Burlington, Vermont. Mr. Awartani and Mr. Ahmad were sporting keffiyehs when they were shot point-blank by an assailant who subsequently shot Mr. Abdalhamid. Mr. Awartani is now paralyzed from the waist down. Closer to home, a staffer at Iroquois Ridge High School in Oakville, Ont., was caught on video, advising a student to "be careful" about wearing the keffiyeh, since it "reminds" her of Hamas. She is under investigation. The school principal unequivocally denounced her blatant anti-Palestinian racism and vowed to uphold the Human Rights Code. This incident happened mere weeks after Mr. Arnott's edict. The ban is a betrayal of the ideals of the Emancipation Act that Mr. Arnott proudly co-sponsored - namely, upholding the "ongoing struggle for human rights." After calling on independent MPP Sarah Jama to leave the House for wearing a keffiyeh, he sent an official to deliver the message in person. In an iconic photo, a white man leans over the desk of Ms. Jama, a Black woman clad in a hijab and a keffiyeh, and seated in a wheelchair. Let's hope the Ontario Black History Society, recognized in the Emancipation Day Act, chronicles this shameful event and sends a letter of protest to Mr. Arnott. Ontario MPPs had two opportunities to reverse this ban by unanimously voting against it. Yet Robin Martin and Lisa MacLeod, two PC MPPs, supported the ban, keeping it in place. It's reminiscent of the case of the town of Saint-Apollinaire, Que., in 2017, when 19 naysayers were enough to nix plans for a Muslim cemetery run by the Islamic Cultural Centre, which also operated the Quebec City mosque where six worshippers were massacred just a few months before. That vote was rooted in ignorance and prejudice. Plus ça change. Premier Doug Ford says he personally opposes the keffiyeh ban. But by declining so far to put forward a government motion to end it, he is failing to stand firmly for the basic human rights of all Ontarians. Now it's up to the rest of us to strive toward a just society with human dignity at its core.