I am going to share a Yom Kippur story with the public.

It is an experience I’ve already shared with the Jewish community. I knew most of the Jewish community would understand, their responses coming from a place of trauma.

Non-Jews, our allies globally, need to listen. 🧵 I went this Yom Kippur to the Kol Nidre service at the congregation I’ve attended for 20 years.

For those who do not know, Yom Kippur is the holiest and most solemn of days in Judaism.

A person sat down at the front of the room in a keffiyeh and wearing an anti-Israel pin./

Canadians, non-Jewish friends, a short 🧵on what it is to experience trauma and to have others dismiss or deny that trauma. It was a very stressful couple of weeks, for most Jews in Canada, with bomb threats to our synagogues and institutions, but also a turning of the tide. / When most Jews in Ottawa say that they are not safe, and anyone at all dismisses that trauma, that deepens the trauma. Just as when a woman who in an abusive relationship says that she's unsafe, you validate it. Just as we MUST validate a Black or Indigenous person's trauma. /🧵

It isn’t safe to be a Jew in #Ottawa, but that isn’t new.

A brief🧵re my political journey and worsening Jew hate from 2020-2024.

Note: The political right will deny that antivaxx/anti-mask zealotry was tied to Naziism, and the left will deny that anti-Zionism is #antisemitism. 🧵/ In November 2021, I received the first antisemitic death threat, sent to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario by an anti-vaxxer. In response, police told me to increase my security and I was left to pursue a peace bond (didn’t happen).

cbc.ca/listen/live-ra…

Friends and colleagues, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

A short 🧵on what's gone down at the @OCDSB, why good people should be warned before they go into any level of politics, why it is not safe for Jews in Ottawa, and what this means for democracy.

1/12 Dec 19, @OCDSB voted that I was guilty of a Code of Conduct violation for calling out antisemitic hate, speaking with media, and demanding that they take my safety seriously.

Tonight I appealed their decision, which was based on errors, omissions, and double standards.

2/12

Dear constituents,

This is what will play out in #Ottawa at the public school board (@OCDSB) on Dec 19, 2023.

This is also what is playing out in boards of education across North America.

I’ll be sanctioned for speaking out against #antisemitism.

#onted
#onpoli
@Sflecce

🧵 Tuesday at an @OCDSB meeting, I’ll be accused of wrongdoing for speaking the truth about #antisemitic threats & harassment and questioning discriminatory responses. I asked for compassion. I was met with reprisals.

What does that mean for education, democracy, society?

2/19

A youth was arrested by RCMP in #Ottawa today, in an alleged terror plot against the Jewish community.

We are not alright. In Canada. Around the world.

Please take a moment to read/share this 🧵about the toll of unchecked #antisemitism. 1/9 Most women have been in situations in which we felt unsafe. Walking down the street at night, looking over our shoulders. When that happens, what’s our gut instinct? We cross the street if we sense someone behind us. We look for another woman to walk closer to.

But what 2/9

As a Canadian Jew, I’ve called out #antisemitism (Nazi rhetoric, death threats) for years. Harassed by the right because of health advocacy and 2SLGBTQ activism, I asked who’s an ally.

This is a very hard thing to say, but
following the slaughter of Jews in Israel Oct 7 🧵1/10 I have learned that I am not safe with many colleagues on the left. All people should have taken to the streets to protest Hamas. Instead, some chose to justify the massacre and took up antisemitic rhetoric questioning the legitimacy of Israel and calling Jews colonialists. 2/10

NOT OK. In the face of antisemitism, disinformation, and a campaign by the far-right to see my head roll, today I’m on trial with @OCDSB, accused of a code of conduct violation for calling out white supremacy and saying #Ottawa trustees should all care about health & safety.🧵 The #Ottawa public school unfortunately has a toxic pattern of conservative trustees abusing its “code of conduct” process to try to silence progressives. I was warned ahead of time. I’m the 2023 target. I refuse to be silent. 2/🧵
@CBCOttawa @ctvottawa @OttawaCitizen #onted

Imagine for a moment if a Black or Asian school board trustee were harassed for 9 months. Racial slurs. Death threats. White supremacists storming the board room. There would be an appropriate outcry.

As a Jew, that’s what happened to me in #Ottawa at @OCDSB.

Brief🧵about #hate When I ran for trustee, my signs were defaced with #antivaxx #antisemitic garbage. When I advocated for temporary masks in @OCDSB schools, the threats markedly worsened. For the most part, colleagues were silent.

No outcry. Not even checking in to see if I’m alright. Weird?🧵2/5

A little weekend 🧵on police in schools, for those who wonder what is abuzz at @OCDSB. You may have seen coverage from @CBCOttawa @ctvottawa @OttawaCitizen (and other less reputable sources). This isn’t a “two-sides” issue, and shouldn’t be up for debate, IMO. #onted #onpoli The previous @OCDSB board of trustees and community organizations put in tremendous effort to address harms caused by the presence of police in our schools.

The policy to remove police from schools was passed in 2021 by the @OCDSB (on a 10-1 vote) after extensive community 2/