Open Letter: Integrate the Nakba into the B.C. Curriculum

The Honourable Rachna Singh
Minister of Education and Child Care
PO Box 9045 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

Open Letter: Integrate the Nakba into the B.C. Curriculum

Dear Honourable Rachna Singh,

We call on you to integrate the Nakba into the B.C. elementary and secondary curriculum immediately. Given the ongoing atrocities being committed in Gaza, the misinformation and confusion being spread, the silencing and backlash against students and teachers discussing Palestine, and comments made by political leaders, including former Minister of Higher Education Selina Robinson, it is crucial to make sure young people are educated about the Nakba.

The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, describes the ethnic cleansing and violent dispossession of Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 to make way for the creation of the state of Israel. During this period, Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their land, committed over 70 massacres against them, and destroyed over 500 of their towns and villages. Learning about this ethnic cleansing is essential to understanding the history of Palestine and Israel.

The violent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians between 1947-1949 stands on its own as an important historical tragedy, but their continued suffering due to Israeli-imposed systemic inequities, apartheid system, and denial of the right of return makes the Nakba an important contemporary issue as well. The Nakba is the bloody, tragic foundation of one of the most misunderstood histories in the world.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Nakba must be incorporated into the curriculum to ensure that both students and teachers are informed and educated on an issue that is not currently in the curriculum, and is frequently erased or misrepresented in public discourse. Furthermore, the topic of the Nakba has many curricular connections to other events in Canadian and global history and can be easily incorporated into the elaborations in both elementary and secondary curricula. 

Additionally, as the B.C. Education System works towards implementing the First People’s Principles of Learning and emphasizes the importance of and need for reconciliation, it is crucial that we apply these learnings of colonization. It is hypocritical and confusing for our schools to say we must mourn and acknowledge the atrocities of colonization in one circumstance, while actively telling students it is too complicated and will thus be avoided when it is happening in another—real time—circumstance. In this regard, the B.C. Education System is failing our youth. 

For decades we have neglected the history of Palestine and Israel, being silent about it at best and perpetuating inaccuracies and harmful stereotypes at worst. The Ministry has demonstrated a commitment to creating a curriculum that focuses on inclusive education, integrating Indigenous history, truth, and perspectives, and pushing SOGI education to the forefront. With the rampant misinformation that students are engaging with, teacher insecurity, and countless parallels and connections to other historical atrocities and domestic and international topics, it is time that the Ministry takes leadership by integrating the Nakba into the curriculum. 

The importance and urgency of this cannot be understated. We cannot have another generation of students grow up knowing nothing about Canada’s historical complicity in the longest refugee crisis in history. Palestine and Israel has been portrayed as a sensitive topic, but only because of decades of propaganda and misinformation. The Ministry has both an opportunity and a duty  to ensure that this generation grows up informed and educated. Just as our schools work toward putting care and effort into teaching the colonization of Indigenous land, SOGI, and historical and contemporary atrocities, we must extend the same care and effort to teach Palestine and Israel, and that starts with the Nakba. 

Endorsed by,

Teachers 4 Palestine BC
Parents for Palestine
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver, Victoria, and UBC
Palestinian Youth Movement Vancouver
Labour for Palestine Vancouver & Victoria
Canada Palestine Association—Vancouver
Samidoun—Vancouver
Freedom from War Coalition