MPP Sarah Jama's Statement on Keffiyeh Ban at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Part of committing genocide is the forceful suppression of cultural identity and cultural symbols. Wearing a keffiyeh is now banned at Queen's Park—not just in the chamber, but from the building itself. This is unsurprising, but nonetheless concerning, in a country with an ongoing legacy of colonialism. You don’t have to go far back in Canadian history to see how state powers use suppression of Indigenous cultural dress, language, ceremony, and beliefs as tools of genocide. Seeing those in power in this country at all levels of government, from federal all the way down to school boards, aid Israel’s colonial regime with these tactics in the oppression of Palestinian people proves that reconciliation is nothing but a word when spoken by state powers.

As Israel's genocide in Gaza and the West Bank continues, we see attempts to demonize and suppress every aspect of Palestinian identity here in Ontario. Students are reprimanded for wearing keffiyehs at school, racist zionist groups continue to equate Palestinian identity to terrorism with little or no pushback from people in power, those who do speak out in solidarity are slandered and silenced, all while police violence escalates to repress the people using their voices to demand peace: these are ways in which our so-called liberal society creates space for fascism to take charge.

We can't survive with a status quo that will bow to fascism and corporate greed while punishing everyday Ontarians whose simple asks are affordable living and not to be represented by governments supporting and complicit in genocide.History shows and will continue to show that attempts to ban cultural identity and cultural symbols only strengthens movements of resistance. We must always be vigilant in a society that continuously bans cultural identity—especially those identities that represent resistance and a threat to a status quo that fails them.

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